Police Forensics Show KakaoTalk Messages Claimed by Hover Lab to Be Between Late Kim Sae-ron and Kim Soo-hyun Belong to Another Celebrity

Police forensic investigation results have reportedly found that KakaoTalk messages from 2016 between the late actor Kim Sae-ron and another person—which the YouTube channel Hover Lab and the bereaved family claimed were exchanged with actor Kim Soo-hyun—actually belonged to a different celebrity, not Kim Soo-hyun.

Entertainment media outlet Dispatch reported on October 13, citing police investigation details, that the sender of the 2016 KakaoTalk messages released by Hover Lab and the bereaved family as a conversation between Kim Sae-ron and Kim Soo-hyun is celebrity A, not Kim Soo-hyun.

Previously in March of last year, Hover Lab CEO Kim Se-ui and the legal representative of the bereaved family, attorney Bu Ji-seok, held a press conference and revealed the 2016 KakaoTalk conversation. The messages included statements directed at Kim Sae-ron such as, "When can I hold you and fall asleep?" which suggested a romantic relationship. At the time, the bereaved family claimed the other party in the conversation was Kim Soo-hyun and released image files containing Kim Soo-hyun's photo and name.

Police conducted a full examination of nearly 200 KakaoTalk screen captures stored by Kim Sae-ron in Ncloud. While most had the sender's name saved alongside them, about 10 images had the conversation partner saved as "Unknown," which included the problematic 2016 KakaoTalk messages. After comparing the "Unknown" KakaoTalk messages with those showing real names and analyzing the tone of speech, the police reportedly identified the sender as celebrity A.

According to Dispatch, police performed forensics on the iPhone 7, iPhone 8, iPhone SE, and iPhone 13 mini used by Kim Sae-ron, and no data proving a romantic relationship with Kim Soo-hyun was found. The outlet reported that the number of calls Kim Sae-ron made to Kim Soo-hyun using the iPhone 7 she used from 2017 to 2018 was limited to just three times. Meanwhile, it was found that Kim Sae-ron maintained close relationships with at least four men during the same period, which did not include Kim Soo-hyun.

Additionally, police reportedly secured testimony from a Hover Lab internal staff member stating that prior to the press conference, "Kim Se-ui instructed [someone] to change 'Unknown' to 'Kim Soo-hyun'."

Meanwhile, CEO Kim Se-ui is currently in custody and on trial on charges of defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, violation of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes (distribution of content using cameras, etc.), intimidation, and attempted coercion. Prosecutors have determined that CEO Kim broadcasted allegations of Kim Soo-hyun dating a minor over 25 times, earning a total of 169.4 million won, including 115 million won in advertising revenue and 54.4 million won in donations.



(Photo: Yonhap News) (Reported by Kang Kyung-yoon, SBS Entertainment News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.