When Kim Sae-ron was discovered lifeless at her house in February, she joined a rising listing of South Korean entertainers who’ve ended their very own lives. However the actress, who was 24, has generated extra headlines in loss of life than in life as her relationship with an older male celebrity has come underneath scrutiny.
The tragedy and scandal has embroiled Kim Soo-hyun, 37, one in every of South Korea’s best-known actors, and is full of allegations worthy of a Ok-drama story line: A former baby prodigy and a person 13 years her senior began relationship. Not lengthy after they broke up, the actress bought right into a drunk-driving incident that proved deadly to her profession and suffered monetary troubles, whereas the actor grew to become one of many nation’s richest stars. She tried however didn’t stage a comeback. Then she took her personal life.
The scandal additionally raised extra critical accusations. Since Ms. Kim’s loss of life, her household has stated Mr. Kim began relationship her when she was a minor, and that after they parted, a expertise company he based had pressured her over a debt she was unable to repay. Mr. Kim has denied the accusations in opposition to him, and filed a defamation lawsuit in opposition to Ms. Kim’s household.
However the scandal has already begun burning Mr. Kim’s profession and highlighted the perils of celeb in South Korea, the place private lives can come underneath unforgiving scrutiny. Stars have seen their careers ruined — and even ended their very own lives — due to aggressive and generally malicious on-line rumors over all the pieces from plastic surgical procedures to their romantic life.
“South Koreans deal with entertainers like public figures who should dwell as much as textbooklike moral requirements,” stated Bae Kug-nam, the writer of a number of books about South Korea’s leisure trade.
That tradition has created a lethal entice when mixed with YouTubers and different influencers who’ve dished out sensational particulars of a star’s private life, Mr. Bae stated.
Ms. Kim, a former baby star, confronted such an onslaught when she bought right into a drunk-driving incident in 2022. Amid a public furor, advertisers abandoned her. Roles had been canceled. Ms. Kim left Mr. Kim’s company Gold Medalist after the incident, however nonetheless owed it for a big mortgage that was used to pay penalties for failing to satisfy contracts with manufacturing firms and advertisers.
A scarcity of threat administration coaching leaves many South Korean entertainers badly ready for such crises, stated Jeongseob Kim, a professor on the Graduate Faculty of Tradition Business and Arts at Sungshin Ladies’s College in Seoul. To them, a scandal usually means monetary devastation.
“Stars attain unbelievable heights,” Prof. Kim stated. “However they don’t notice that tall peaks imply deep valleys till they get into hassle.”
Ms. Kim’s relationship with Mr. Kim grew to become information when she briefly posted an previous photograph on her Instagram final yr. The photograph confirmed the 2 with their cheeks touching and triggered a frenzy of hypothesis, though Mr. Kim denied a relationship relationship.
Mr. Kim confronted a full-blown scandal final month after Ms. Kim’s household took her story to HoverLab, a YouTube channel greatest identified for carrying sensational content material. HoverLab has launched photographs, video clips and textual content messages that it stated backed its claims that Mr. Kim started sexually grooming Ms. Kim when she was underneath 16 and that he ignored her when she was in monetary hassle.
Mr. Kim and his company have denied the claims and filed lawsuits in opposition to HoverLab in addition to Ms. Kim’s household, accusing them of spreading fabricated proof, blackmailing the actor and violating his privateness.
A number of days earlier than Ms. Kim posted the photograph final yr, she had obtained a discover from Mr. Kim’s company demanding compensation of her debt. The company stated that the discover was only a procedural step, however her household’s legal professionals stated she felt strain and sought assist from Mr. Kim.
“She tried however couldn’t attain Kim Soo-hyun,” stated Boo Ji-seok, her household’s lawyer. “She posted the photograph briefly, hoping that it could immediate him to name her again.”
Solely underneath rising strain from Ms. Kim’s household did Mr. Kim say final month that he had dated her for a yr, after she grew to become an grownup. Ms. Kim’s legal professionals insist that their romantic relationship lasted six years, from 2015.
Mr. Kim stated that his denial final yr was pushed by his worry of the harm his admission would trigger. “I had a lot to guard,” he stated throughout a tearful information convention on Monday, explaining {that a} drama sequence wherein he stars, referred to as “Queen of Tears,” was being proven on tv on the time. “What would occur to the actors performing alongside me, the workers who had been working in a single day on set and the manufacturing workforce who had all the pieces staked on that mission?”
Manufacturers have begun dropping him from their ads. Native media reported that he might face large penalties if the scandal jeopardized tasks he has been concerned in, together with a Disney+ present.
“It will likely be tough for him to take care of his present standing,” stated Prof. Kim. “The system hardly ever permits a second probability.”
In case you are having ideas of suicide, name or textual content 988 to succeed in the 988 Suicide and Disaster Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/sources for an inventory of extra sources.
In South Korea, name 109 for the Well being Ministry’s suicide prevention hotline, or go to the Korean-language website 129.go.kr/109.
