Police drop underage dating charge against actor Kim Soo-hyun
Seoul police have dropped an underage dating investigation into actor Kim Soo-hyun, citing lack of evidence in allegations stemming from the late actress Kim Sae-ron's family.
Police have closed their investigation into underage dating allegations against South Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun, according to Yonhap News Agency. The Seoul Seongdong Police Station dropped the charge citing insufficient evidence to proceed.
The accusation originated from Kim Sae-ron's family, who alleged that Soo-hyun had dated the actress while she was a minor. Kim Sae-ron, who died by apparent suicide at age 24 in 2024, had been the subject of intense speculation following her passing.
The allegations gained wider circulation in 2025 when YouTube channel Hover Lab published claims that Soo-hyun had dated Kim Sae-ron for six years starting when she was 15 years old. The channel presented what it described as voice recordings of the late actress discussing the relationship with an acquaintance, allegedly mentioning that she had dated the actor while still in middle school.
Those recordings were subsequently determined to be fabricated. Kim Se-ui, the operator of Hover Lab, was arrested in May 2026 on suspicion of spreading false information about Soo-hyun despite knowing the audio was forged. A court issued an arrest warrant against Kim Se-ui on charges of defamation and the deliberate distribution of fabricated material.
The police decision to abandon the underage dating investigation marks a significant development in a case that had dominated entertainment headlines for over a year. In March 2025, Soo-hyun held a press conference at a Seoul hotel to publicly deny the allegations. The closure of the case removes one layer of legal and public scrutiny from the actor following the discrediting of the primary evidence used to support the claims against him.
