Hello. This is Kim Soo-hyun. First of all, I’m sorry. It seems like many people are suffering because of me. It breaks my heart to see that even the deceased cannot rest in peace. I consider myself a coward. I always seemed to be too focused on protecting what I had. I couldn’t even trust the kindness shown to me, always afraid of losing something, getting hurt, running away, and denying. That’s why it took me a long time to come forward. I thought, what if I had just been honest from the beginning and shared everything from this position? I kept thinking that whenever our private lives were exposed, maybe I should just tell everything, speak up, and end the situation that felt like it was driving me crazy. But every time, I hesitated. What impact would my decision have on those around me? Could it make things worse for everyone?
Even when the photo taken with the deceased during the airing of “The Queen of Tears” was posted, it was the same. The deceased and I dated for about a year four years ago. However, at that time, I denied the fact that we were in a relationship. It is natural for you to criticize this choice of mine. Even if you cannot believe what I am saying about the things that happened between me and the deceased, I understand. However, since this is the only opportunity I have to speak like this, I would be truly grateful if you would listen to my story just once.
I became an actor and received an abundance of love. Originally, I was not a person who had much, but I ended up becoming someone who had too much to protect. Even when “The Queen of Tears” was airing, there were many things I had to protect as the lead actor. If I had admitted my past relationship with someone a few years ago, what would have happened? What would have happened to the actors who worked with me, the staff who stayed up all night on set, the production company that had put everything into this project, and our company staff? What would have happened to everything? Even if I were to go back to the time when “The Queen of Tears” was airing, I would make the same choice. I had no other choice.
Can I make decisions as I please to ease my mind? No matter how much I think about it, I don’t think I can do that. I believed that it was the responsibility of the person who chose to live as Kim Soo-hyun. If you criticize this choice as cowardly or selfish, I will accept it. And I apologize to everyone who has cared for me. I am still worried at this moment. And anxious. What consequences will my words bring? But because I am that kind of person, I ultimately thought that I had to speak up.
There were also those who advised me to go smoothly, show a moderate acceptance to manage the risk, distance myself from people’s interest, and prepare for a comeback later. If I had listened to that advice, perhaps the exposure of my private life with the deceased would not have been so severe. Every day, I wondered what kind of picture would be posted tomorrow, what would be revealed, and I wouldn’t have received threats like that, and my private life wouldn’t have been leaked, causing humiliation.
But I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t accept lies as the truth while being threatened. Let me tell you about the part that you are most curious about. I did not have a relationship with the deceased when they were a minor. And it is not true that I made a tragic choice because of the deceased’s debt pressure due to my neglect and my agency. Except for being actors, the deceased and I were just like any other ordinary couple. We met with good feelings, and eventually broke up after some time. Since then, we couldn’t communicate with each other much. Like most ex-couples, it was a delicate matter to communicate separately after breaking up. Both of us were actors known to people, and when the deceased was in the same agency as me, I had some knowledge of how they were doing. So, when the deceased had a drunk driving accident, I couldn’t easily contact them. I heard from the last agency representative of the deceased, who represents the deceased’s family, that the deceased was having a hard time because of me during the drunk driving incident. However, at that time, I know that the deceased was seeing someone else. So, it was very delicate for me to contact them in that situation. We were living our own lives, and I didn’t know what to say.
My words may sound like excuses. I wanted to stay silent no matter what people said. I receive a lot of love, but I also receive a lot of misunderstandings. Things that are not true spread around as if they were true. I thought that was something I had to bear. However, the deceased’s family claims that I drove the deceased to death because I was the deceased’s ex-boyfriend. And they are forcing me to confess to things I didn’t do. They say, “You seduced the deceased when they were a minor, you pressured the deceased to death with money, so you are a murderer.”
Please listen to this voice once. After the deceased’s family revealed the relationship between me and the deceased, a YouTube channel representing the deceased’s family delivered the testimony of the last agency representative of the deceased. After the exposure, they claimed that our agency sent a second proof of debt to the deceased and pressured them to pay the debt. However, in a phone call with my agency representative a year ago, a completely different story was told. Please listen to it.
I learned about the second proof of debt through this controversy. However, I don’t understand why the deceased’s agency representative is telling a different story now compared to the phone call a year ago. I will admit to my mistakes. I think it is natural to take responsibility for what needs to be taken care of. But I cannot admit to doing things I did not do.
The KakaoTalk messages initially released by the deceased’s family are the same. There are too many incorrect facts in these KakaoTalk messages to say that they were written by the deceased. The photo they claimed was from 2016 was actually from 2019. And if it was the deceased, they would not have gotten the age difference between me and the deceased wrong. Also, they cannot get wrong the agency name where they were signed for four years and the contract period. The deceased only worked as an actor under our company. There is no truth to the claims of being cast as a rookie or directing visuals.
Recently, the deceased’s family also publicly released KakaoTalk conversations claiming to be between me and the deceased. And on that YouTube channel, they are framing me as a pedophile, a groomer of minors, based on statements from the 2016 KakaoTalk. However, the individuals conversing with the deceased in the 2016 and 2018 KakaoTalk messages are different people. To prove this, I submitted the 2016 and 2018 KakaoTalk messages provided by the deceased’s family, as well as the KakaoTalk messages I exchanged with my acquaintances this year, to a scientific analysis verification institution. The results concluded that the individuals in the 2016 and 2018 messages were not the same person. The most painful part since the deceased’s family’s revelations began was this. After my agency and I stated our position on the evidence presented by the deceased’s family, suddenly newly recorded testimonies were released. Edited photos and videos, and edited KakaoTalk images that were not original evidence are presented as evidence. Fake testimonies and fake evidence continue to be presented as a pretext for claiming that I had a relationship with the deceased.
I will accept criticism for the choices I have made. However, not everything that is not true becomes true just because of that. I will go through a thorough verification process with law enforcement for everything the deceased’s family presents as evidence. If the evidence the deceased’s family has is truly the truth, I request that they submit all the data to law enforcement and undergo legal verification. Even now, there are people looking at only me, people who I am responsible for. I see them suffering and falling apart every day. I am afraid of what distortions and fabrications will be used to tarnish my reputation and torment those around me after this press conference ends.
But if I succumb to coercion and call lies the truth, I would betray not only Kim Soo-hyun the person but also all those who have trusted and loved Kim Soo-hyun the star. They would be left with a lifetime of pain, believing that they loved a human trash, that they were deceived by Kim Soo-hyun. Even if I live as Kim Soo-hyun wearing a celebrity mask, I cannot do that. What I did, I did. I can accept any criticism for that. But what I did not do, I did not do. I want to clarify that for all those who still believe in me. I will not ask you to believe me. I will make sure to prove it. Thank you.