This article is part of our coverage of Kim Soo Hyun And Kim Sae Ron’s Relationship. You can read more and view the entire timeline here.
Actor Kim Soo Hyun admitted in his official statement shared via GOLD MEDALIST that he was, indeed, in a relationship with the late actress Kim Sae Ron—though he claimed that the romantic relationship lasted from the summer of 2019 to the fall of 2020, when both involved were consenting adults.
All “evidence,” as presented by the bereaved via the YouTube channel Garosero Research Institute, suggests otherwise. Amid the discrepancies in the relationship timeline, an attorney has weighed in to consider what legal consequences Kim Soo Hyun would face if it turns out that he had dated Kim Sae Ron when she was a minor.
Kim Soo Hyun’s Eyewear In Photos With Kim Sae Ron Spark Serious Doubt About His Company’s Statement
As high as the demands are for real legal action against Kim Soo Hyun, attorney Lee Go Eun told YTN, “The fact that they were in a relationship alone would not be sufficient for prosecution.”
In her statement that she never released, Kim Sae Ron noted that she and Kim Soo Hyun started dating on November 19, 2015, when she was 15 years old. Yet, based on South Korean law, she would not be considered a “minor,” establishing the relationship to be punishable by law.
YTN: Could dating itself be grounds for legal punishment?
Lee Go Eun: According to the current law, revised in May 2020, engaging in sexual acts or physical intimacy with a minor under 16, even with consent, could constitute statutory rape or sexual misconduct. However, before the 2020 amendment, the law applied only to minors under 13, not under 16.
Lee Go Eun explained that an older version of the law amended in 2020 would apply (since the relationship in question began in 2015), and therefore, “a 15-year-old would not fall under the definition of a minor in a statutory rape case…”
Since Kim Sae Ron was 15 at the time (in 2015), the older version of the law would apply. Under that law, criminal charges for statutory rape or misconduct required the minor to be under 13. The fact that they were in a relationship alone would not be sufficient for prosecution. Given that the previous law applies in this case, a 15-year-old would not fall under the definition of statutory rape.
— Lee Go Eun
…“unless there is concrete evidence of sexual acts,” that is.
Therefore, it would be difficult to establish criminal liability under the current legal framework unless there is concrete evidence of sexual acts. Simply being in a relationship with a minor is not enough to bring charges against Kim Soo Hyun under the old law.
— Lee Go Eun
After Kim Soo Hyun fiercely defended himself in his statement, Kim Sae Ron’s mother broke silence and reiterated that the late actress never lied, including about her relationship with him:
Late Actress Kim Sae Ron’s Mother Breaks Silence Following Actor Kim Soo Hyun’s Statement