It was discovered that Kim Sae-ron had shouldered some of her family's debts and received financial support from numerous individuals in the entertainment industry and personal acquaintances to sustain her living.
According to court documents from 2023, Kim Sae-ron was listed as a creditor in her father Mr. A's personal bankruptcy case. Sources indicate that Kim Sae-ron's claim exceeded 250 million won.
Mr. A filed for personal bankruptcy in December 2020 at the Uijeongbu District Court after his business failed due to COVID-19, leaving debts of several hundred million won to more than 20 creditors. By March 2023, his bankruptcy and discharge were finalized. At this time, Kim Sae-ron was just 20 years old.
Insiders revealed that a family restaurant Kim Sae-ron had invested in also failed. Despite Kim Sae-ron's financial contributions and leveraging her entertainment industry connections, the restaurant, opened under a friend's name by her parents in May 2021, closed down in 2024.
According to the property manager, the restaurant shut its doors before the lease ended due to unpaid rent and maintenance fees, resulting in the forfeiture of the entire security deposit.
Kim Sae-ron's financial pressures intensified around May 2022 when she caused an accident by driving under the influence and colliding with a transformer. The compensation for damages to nearby shops and legal fees from the DUI incident placed a significant financial burden on her.
During her DUI trial in 2023, Kim Sae-ron, through her attorney, stated, "I have been supporting my family as the primary breadwinner. Not just me, but my family members are also struggling with financial difficulties."
A source from the entertainment industry shared, "Kim Sae-ron tirelessly earned living expenses through various endeavors like cafes, bars, flower shops, and acting coaching, yet she still worried about making rent. Early last year, she urgently needed to repay a debt of about 50 million won borrowed from an athlete friend, and her agency stepped in to cover part of it."
A neighbor from Kim Sae-ron's last residence mentioned, "I often saw her crying on the stairs. When I asked her, she showed me her wrist and said she was struggling so much with money despite working hard. The last time I saw her like that was about two months before her death."
In a private social media post from last September, Kim Sae-ron expressed her financial struggles, thanking those who helped her financially and hinting at a 'final' resolution to her pain.
SBS Entertainment News has confirmed that aside from three entertainment industry acquaintances Kim Sae-ron mentioned, she owed hundreds to millions of won to singers, actors, and athletes. With debts of about 700 million won to her former agency Gold Medalist and approximately 60 million won to Run Entertainment, Kim Sae-ron's total debt before her death is estimated to be at least 1.2 billion won.
Following Kim Sae-ron's death, her family claimed in March that her financial difficulties due to family debts were unfounded.
Kim Sae-ron's mother countered in a statement, "Now that Sae-ron is gone, outrageous stories are being fabricated, from her being the family breadwinner to claims of the family squandering hundreds of millions she earned, to the creation of incredibly false articles that aren't even worth reading."
Three months after Kim Sae-ron's death, debates over the cause, responsibility, and her alleged relationship with actor Kim Soo-hyun during her minor years continue.
Kim Soo-hyun's side has denied allegations of a relationship with Kim Sae-ron during her minor years, stating, "Their relationship began when they were adults," and has filed defamation lawsuits against Hover Lab and the family. In response, the family filed a complaint against Kim Soo-hyun for violation of the Child Welfare Act last month.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)