According to Dispatch, police forensic examinations reportedly determined that the sender of the disputed 2016 messages was another celebrity, referred to as “A,” rather than Kim Soo-hyun.
The outlet reported that police examined electronic devices previously used by Kim Sae-ron and reviewed nearly 200 KakaoTalk screenshots stored in her cloud account. Around 10 screenshots, including the disputed 2016 conversation, reportedly listed the other participant as “Unknown.”
Dispatch said investigators compared those conversations with identified chat records and Kim Soo-hyun’s messages, including differences in spelling, spacing and commonly used expressions. According to the report, investigators were also able to find Celebrity A’s real name in the original conversation.
Dispatch further reported that a former employee told police that Kim Se-ui of Garo Sero Institute instructed staff to replace the “Unknown” sender label with Kim Soo-hyun’s name before the messages were publicly presented.
The outlet also cited investigative records stating that Kim Sae-ron did not register Kim Soo-hyun’s phone number until October 2017 and that forensic analysis of devices used during the period did not uncover evidence establishing a romantic relationship between the two while she was a minor.
Kim Soo-hyun has consistently maintained that he dated Kim Sae-ron only after she became an adult.
Separately, police previously dropped an underage-dating allegation against Kim Soo-hyun due to insufficient evidence, while Kim Se-ui was arrested and later indicted on charges including defamation over allegedly false and fabricated claims concerning the actor.
Netizen Reactions
The sampled comments were overwhelmingly sympathetic toward Kim Soo-hyun and angry at those accused of manipulating the material. Several comments also make assumptions about Celebrity A and the bereaved family that go beyond what has been independently established, so those should remain clearly presented as individual reactions.
1. What about compensation for the damages?? Is it just over once they go to prison? How many people have they destroyed like this...
2. Even prison food feels like a waste on them. How are they going to compensate Kim Soo-hyun for all the days he suffered because of this?
3. How did Kim Soo-hyun endure being wronged like that? ã… ã…
4. Alright, so who is Celebrity A? And what about those four people who’ve stayed silent until now? Come forward already.
5. Wow.. this is seriously terrifying.... It really looks like they knowingly manipulated it. If the bereaved family took part too, they should be punished.
6. Kim Se-ui is one thing, but the bereaved family... I seriously wonder what they were thinking.
7. Celebrity A, apologize to Kim Soo-hyun right now. Kim Soo-hyun suffered for over a year and a half while you were probably just living your daily life comfortably. And if the deceased’s family knew who it really was and still tried to pin it on Kim Soo-hyun, that’s terrifying.
8. Even if his name has been cleared, the emotional scars and trauma could last a lifetime.. How are they going to take responsibility for that? Thank you, Kim Soo-hyun, for enduring such a difficult period. I’ll wait for your return and support you.
9. The bereaved family distorted it, Garo Sero Institute manipulated it, and the public consumed it. The process of something fake becoming accepted as truth is terrifying.
10. Are they even human? How could they do something like this!! They absolutely need to be held accountable.
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