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Asia Pacific|Accusations Fly in South Korean Dating Scandal After Actress’s Suicide
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/world/asia/kim-sae-ron-suicide-soo-hyun.html
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The death of the actress Kim Sae-ron has plunged her former boyfriend, the superstar actor Kim Soo-hyun, into the biggest crisis of his career.
April 2, 2025, 11:15 p.m. ET
When Kim Sae-ron was found dead at her home in February, she joined a growing list of South Korean entertainers who have ended their own lives. But the actress, who was 24, has generated more headlines in death than in life as her relationship with an older male superstar has come under scrutiny.
The tragedy and scandal has embroiled Kim Soo-hyun, 37, one of South Korea’s best-known actors, and is packed with allegations worthy of a K-drama story line: A former child prodigy and a man 13 years her senior started dating. Not long after they broke up, the actress got into a drunk-driving incident that proved fatal to her career and suffered financial troubles, while the actor became one of the country’s richest stars. She tried but failed to stage a comeback. Then she took her own life.
The scandal also raised more serious accusations. Since Ms. Kim’s death, her family has said Mr. Kim started dating her when she was a minor, and that after they parted, a talent agency he founded had pressured her over a debt she was unable to repay. Mr. Kim has denied the accusations against him, and filed a defamation lawsuit against Ms. Kim’s family.
But the scandal has already begun burning Mr. Kim’s career and highlighted the perils of celebrity in South Korea, where personal lives can come under unforgiving scrutiny. Stars have seen their careers ruined — or even ended their own lives — because of aggressive and sometimes malicious online rumors over everything from plastic surgeries to their romantic life.
“South Koreans treat entertainers like public figures who must live up to textbooklike ethical standards,” said Bae Kug-nam, the author of several books about South Korea’s entertainment industry.
That culture has created a deadly trap when combined with YouTubers and other influencers who have dished out sensational details of a star’s personal life, Mr. Bae said.
