When Kim Sae-ron was found dead at her house in February, she joined a rising checklist of South Korean entertainers who’ve ended their very own lives. However the actress, who was 24, has generated extra headlines in dying than in life as her relationship with an older male celebrity has come below scrutiny.
The tragedy and scandal has embroiled Kim Soo-hyun, 37, one in all South Korea’s best-known actors, and is full of allegations worthy of a Ok-drama story line: A former little one prodigy and a person 13 years her senior began courting. Not lengthy after they broke up, the actress received right into a drunk-driving incident that proved deadly to her profession and suffered monetary troubles, whereas the actor grew to become one of many nation’s richest stars. She tried however didn’t stage a comeback. Then she took her personal life.
The scandal additionally raised extra severe accusations. Since Ms. Kim’s dying, her household has mentioned Mr. Kim began courting her when she was a minor, and that after they parted, a expertise company he based had pressured her over a debt she was unable to repay. Mr. Kim has denied the accusations towards him, and filed a defamation lawsuit towards Ms. Kim’s household.
However the scandal has already begun burning Mr. Kim’s profession and highlighted the perils of movie star in South Korea, the place private lives can come below unforgiving scrutiny. Stars have seen their careers ruined — and even ended their own lives — due to aggressive and typically malicious on-line rumors over every part from plastic surgical procedures to their romantic life.
“South Koreans deal with entertainers like public figures who should reside as much as textbooklike moral requirements,” mentioned Bae Kug-nam, the writer of a number of books about South Korea’s leisure business.
That tradition has created a lethal lure when mixed with YouTubers and different influencers who’ve dished out sensational particulars of a star’s private life, Mr. Bae mentioned.
Ms. Kim, a former little one star, confronted such an onslaught when she received right into a drunk-driving incident in 2022. Amid a public furor, advertisers abandoned her. Roles have been canceled. Ms. Kim left Mr. Kim’s company Gold Medalist after the incident, however nonetheless owed it for a big mortgage that was used to pay penalties for failing to meet contracts with manufacturing firms and advertisers.
A scarcity of danger administration coaching leaves many South Korean entertainers badly ready for such crises, mentioned Jeongseob Kim, a professor on the Graduate Faculty of Tradition Trade and Arts at Sungshin Ladies’s College in Seoul. To them, a scandal usually means monetary devastation.
“Stars attain unbelievable heights,” Prof. Kim mentioned. “However they don’t understand that tall peaks imply deep valleys till they get into bother.”
Ms. Kim’s relationship with Mr. Kim grew to become information when she briefly posted an outdated photograph on her Instagram final yr. The photograph confirmed the 2 with their cheeks touching and triggered a frenzy of hypothesis, though Mr. Kim denied a courting relationship.
Mr. Kim confronted a full-blown scandal final month after Ms. Kim’s household took her story to HoverLab, a YouTube channel finest recognized for carrying sensational content material. HoverLab has launched pictures, video clips and textual content messages that it mentioned backed its claims that Mr. Kim started sexually grooming Ms. Kim when she was below 16 and that he ignored her when she was in monetary bother.
Mr. Kim and his company have denied the claims and filed lawsuits towards HoverLab in addition to Ms. Kim’s household, accusing them of spreading fabricated proof, blackmailing the actor and violating his privateness.
A number of days earlier than Ms. Kim posted the photograph final yr, she had acquired a discover from Mr. Kim’s company demanding compensation of her debt. The company mentioned that the discover was only a procedural step, however her household’s legal professionals mentioned she felt stress and sought assist from Mr. Kim.
“She tried however couldn’t attain Kim Soo-hyun,” mentioned Boo Ji-seok, her household’s lawyer. “She posted the photograph briefly, hoping that it could immediate him to name her again.”
Solely below rising stress from Ms. Kim’s household did Mr. Kim say final month that he had dated her for a yr, after she grew to become an grownup. Ms. Kim’s legal professionals insist that their romantic relationship lasted six years, from 2015.
Mr. Kim mentioned that his denial final yr was pushed by his worry of the injury his admission would trigger. “I had a lot to guard,” he mentioned throughout a tearful information convention on Monday, explaining {that a} drama sequence wherein he stars, called “Queen of Tears,” was being proven on tv on the time. “What would occur to the actors performing alongside me, the workers who have been working in a single day on set and the manufacturing staff who had every part staked on that challenge?”
Manufacturers have begun dropping him from their commercials. Native media reported that he may face enormous penalties if the scandal jeopardized tasks he has been concerned in, together with a Disney+ show.
“Will probably be troublesome for him to take care of his present standing,” mentioned Prof. Kim. “The system not often permits a second likelihood.”
If you’re having ideas of suicide, name or textual content 988 to succeed in the 988 Suicide and Disaster Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a listing of further assets.
In South Korea, name 109 for the Well being Ministry’s suicide prevention hotline, or go to the Korean-language website 129.go.kr/109.
