Kim Soo-hyun’s camp has pushed back against underage dating allegations raised by the family of the late actress Kim Sae-ron and YouTube channel Hover Lab, disclosing roughly 150 diary-style letters the actor wrote to his then-girlfriend while serving in the military.
On Sept. 30, attorney Go Sang-rok of Law Firm Phil said the team decided to share part of the evidence “to restore the actor’s damaged reputation and correct misinformation,” noting they had carefully verified the materials amid a prolonged probe fueled by Hover Lab’s continued broadcasts.
Inside the 150 ‘Love Diaries’: His Three-Year Relationship, in His Own Words
After enlisting in October 2017, Kim served with a DMZ reconnaissance unit until his discharge in July 2019. During that time, he wrote approximately 150 diary-like letters to a girlfriend he dated for three years. According to his team, the writings capture his longing, apologies for time apart, shared memories, and concrete plans for their future.
Because of privacy concerns as a public figure―and to avoid loss or theft―Kim didn’t mail the letters. Instead, he showed them to his girlfriend in person whenever he was on leave, and she would write replies in the notebooks, the lawyer said.
Go also cited an April 6, 2018 entry in which Kim lamented that he couldn’t even write his girlfriend’s real name, underscoring his cautious approach and affection.
The Truth Behind ‘I Miss You’: Same Day, Two Very Different Tones
Kim’s side contrasted two records from June 9, 2018―the date Hover Lab labeled its “smoking gun”―one addressed to his girlfriend and another to the late Kim Sae-ron, to highlight a stark difference in tone.
Full Entry Dated June 9, 2018
In the note to his girlfriend, he reportedly writes direct declarations of love and intense longing―lines like “I love you, today and always,” and “I want to hear your voice, then see you, then hold you.” By contrast, his message to the late Kim Sae-ron reads more like casual updates from base life: “Clouds rolled in outside... Honestly, I’m just glad there’s no operation today.” As for the line Hover Lab flagged―“If there’s one thing I can say, it’s… I miss you?”―the attorney stressed it’s a common sign-off soldiers used with acquaintances, especially for someone serving at the front line at a relatively older age.
“Set against the entry he wrote while missing his actual girlfriend, the difference in temperature is obvious,” Go said, adding that the “I miss you” phrasing to the late Kim Sae-ron was a typical, non-romantic expression a soldier might use with an acquaintance when detailed stories from the front felt inappropriate.
‘Seronero’ Was a Nickname; The Relationship Began After She Was an Adult
Kim’s team also disputed the claim that “Seronero” was an intimate pet name proving a romance with the late Kim Sae-ron. They say it was simply a nickname friends used for her as an acquaintance, while Kim avoided even writing his actual girlfriend’s name in the letters.
They further argued that Hover Lab’s talk of “post-discharge travel” is contradicted by a July 30, 2018 entry indicating those trips were planned with his actual girlfriend―not solo jaunts to Japan or Northern Europe, as implied in a letter to the late Kim Sae-ron.
According to Go, the roughly 150 records carry strong evidentiary weight because they were created organically over time, not drafted after the fact.
Kim’s side contends Hover Lab’s false narrative began with a “fake statement draft” the late Kim Sae-ron purportedly sent to an acquaintance.
They also emphasized that every photo Hover Lab aired was taken after she became an adult (late 2019 through spring 2020), and that the pair’s relationship―such as it was―began in the summer of 2019, after she was of age, and ended the following year.
Calling for strict punishment, Go said Hover Lab used the unverified draft on air and likened the damage to “organized violence in the digital age,” describing it as systematic, malicious cybercrime.
Meanwhile, Hover Lab alleged Kim dated the late Kim Sae-ron when she was a minor and released supposed evidence. Those materials have since been shown to date from 2019 to 2020, when she was an adult.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)