[OSENWORLD] “I love you. I miss you.” Those words appeared in more than 150 handwritten notes penned by actor Kim Soo-hyun during his military service. But according to his legal team, none of them were addressed to the late actress Kim Sae-ron — a direct rebuttal to rumors of a romance during that period.
On September 30, attorney Ko Sang-rok of law firm Phil, representing Kim in his ongoing criminal case, clarified: “After reviewing Kim’s military service records, we found numerous letters written to his girlfriend at the time. The content clearly distinguishes that relationship from any connection with the late Kim Sae-ron.”
Ko explained that after being assigned to his unit in 2018, Kim began writing daily, diary-style notes, which he shared with his girlfriend whenever he went on leave. Between early 2018 and the spring of 2019, he wrote about 150 such letters.
“Kim Sae-ron was not his girlfriend at the time”
Ko highlighted the difference in tone: “Letters to his girlfriend include expressions like ‘I love you’ and ‘I miss you,’ while those to the late Kim Sae-ron only contained reflections on military life or comments about the weather. Confusing later correspondence with these earlier notes has created the false impression they were dating during his service.”
Examples cited by the lawyer include a letter from April 6, 2018, where Kim wrote: “I just want to write your name so badly… I love you.” On June 9, he added: “As always, I love you today too!” By July, he was envisioning a future trip with his girlfriend after discharge: “This time next year, we’ll travel together. We’ll do everything together.”
Ko also addressed online speculation fueled by photographs. “The image that Kim Sae-ron once posted and deleted was taken in 2020, when she was a second-year university student,” he explained. “Other disputed photos suspected of manipulation were also shot between late 2019 and early 2020, when she was already of legal age.”
He concluded: “All available records support that Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Sae-ron’s relationship began in the summer of 2019 and ended the following year. A postcard from November 2019 was sent to Kim Sae-ron as an adult, shortly after they started dating, and its content reflects nothing more than typical affection between young adults.”
This clarification follows a May controversy, when a leaked audio file claimed Kim had been in a relationship with Kim Sae-ron since her middle school years. At the time, Kim’s agency Gold Medalist, a Seoul-based management company, dismissed the recording as entirely fabricated, stating it was likely generated using AI technology, and vowed to pursue legal action against those spreading false claims.
/k_inside@osen.co.kr
Courtesy of OSEN
