On October 13, 2026, Korean entertainment media Dispatch (hereafter “D”) published a long article revealing the latest investigation details of the case involving Kim Soo-hyun and the late female actress Kim Sai-lon.
Evidence released by D revealed that police conducted data evidence on multiple mobile phones used by Kim in life – including iPhone 7, iPhone 8, iPhone SE and iPhone 13 mini – and examined nearly 200 KakaoTalk screenshots stored on cloud services. Among them, the widely cited controversial message from 2016 – “When can I hold you to sleep?” – was sent not by Kim Soo-hyun but by another “artist A” in the original recording. After comparing the conversation content and language habits, police confirmed that Kim called out the name of artist A at least twice in the conversation.
In addition, the data showed that between 2017 and 2018, there were only three phone calls recorded between Kim and Kim Soo-hyun, all of which were initiated by the woman. During the same period, Kim maintained close relationships with four other men, but in her conversations with family and acquaintances, she almost never mentioned Kim Soo-hyun.
This means that the “core evidence” that has been repeatedly disseminated over the past year has been deconstructed piece by piece at the level of police technical identification.
The Birth of Accusations
This controversy began in 2025.
On February 16, 2025, Kim Sai-lon, who debuted as a child star, was found dead at home at the age of just 25. This day coincided with Kim Soo-hyun‘s birthday.
Less than a month later, on March 10, the Korean YouTube channel “Horizontal Research Institute” suddenly revealed that Kim Soo-hyun had been dating the then 15-year-old Kim Sai-lon since 2015 for six years, and claimed that Kim Soo-hyun had caused Kim Sai-lon‘s psychological breakdown by seeking out 700 million won in debt while Kim Sai-lon was still alive. “Horizontal Research Institute” brought this accusation to public attention by claiming that Kim Se-yi had connected Kim Sai-lon‘s aunt (who later turned out not to be a biological aunt, but a close friend of her mother’s) in a live broadcast.
Subsequently, Kim Soo-hyun‘s agency, Goldmedalist, publicly denied rumors of romance and allegations of “debt extortion,” emphasizing that it would take “strongest legal action” against the “horizontal research institute” that spread the rumors. At that time, Kim Soo-hyun was at the peak of his career with “The Queen of Tears,” being the top male star of the time. Despite denying the rumors, public opinion quickly fell to one side.
Twenty-one days later, on March 31, 2025, Kim Soo-hyun held a press conference at the Stanford Hotel in Seoul‘s Mapo district, where he faced the public for the first time. He admitted that he had been dating Kim Sai-lon for a year, but insisted that the time was in 2019—after Kim Sai-lon became an adult, not during the other party‘s underage period. Regarding the practice of denying the relationship during the broadcast of “Queen of Tears,” he said: “As the main actor of this drama, I have many things I need to protect. What would have happened if I had admitted at that time to a relationship with someone I had dated a few years ago?” He tearfully said that even if he returned to that moment again, he would still make the same choice.
He also denied the claims of debt collection, saying, “This claim is not true.” After the press conference ended, Kim Soo-hyun‘s legal representative said that he had filed criminal charges against the research institute operators Kim Se-yi, Kim Sai-lon’s family, and the unidentified person claiming to be Kim Sai-lon‘s aunt, and filed a civil damages suit with a total of about 12 billion won with the Seoul Central District Court. Kim Soo-hyun said the legal action was aimed at pursuing responsibility for allegations he considered untrue and the disclosure of related information.
That night, the “Horizontal and Vertical Research Institute” once again released a video allegedly filmed in 2018, claiming that Kim Soo-hyun dated Kim Sai-lon from high school. The public opinion battle entered a tug-of-war stage.
Evidence Disassembled
The turning point occurred in May 2026.
On May 20th, the Central Daily News reported that the Seoul Central Public Prosecutors Office had formally filed a request for the detention of Representative Kim Se-yi of the YouTube channel “Horizontal Research Institute”. The prosecution charged him with various offenses including defamation and violation of the Intelligence and Communications Networks Act and the Sexual Violence Punishment Act. According to the detention request submitted by Seoul‘s Gangnam Police Department, the police clearly confirmed that Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Sai-lon had no relationship during their underage period, and determined that the leaked voice and conversation screenshots in the past were suspected of forgery.
The cover news cited reports from Korean media that the entire incident was confirmed to be a well-planned “AI malicious forgery and extortion case”. Police in their investigation found that Kim Se-yi obtained 11 screenshots from the family last year of Kim Sai-lon‘s conversation with “(unknown user)” in 2016, after which he changed the name of the unknown user to “Kim Soo-hyun”, making a total of 7 edits and modifications. In addition, Kim Se-yi‘s live voice file of Kim Sai-lon, which was released at a press conference in May last year, was also identified by police as being forged using AI technology.
The police believe that Kim Se-yi, despite knowing that Kim Soo-hyun did not have an affair with the underage Kim Sai-lon, and that the cause of Kim Sai-lon‘s death had nothing to do with Kim Soo-hyun, continued to spread false rumors with the purpose of libel in order to obtain YouTube revenue. The media reported that when the police applied for an arrest warrant, they revealed that this libel incident resulted in Kim Soo-hyun‘s “professional survival foundation being almost destroyed,” and said that he “is currently still receiving psychiatric treatment,” and that if the suspect continues to spread false facts, it may cause “important damage that is difficult to recover.”
Counter-claim and settlement
The arrest of Kim Se-yi is just the beginning. Kim Soo-hyun has already filed a 12 billion won (about Rmb60 million) damages suit against Kim Se-yi. TVBS News reported that in late May 2026, Kim Soo-hyun‘s appointed lawyer said that as the incident resulted in Kim Soo-hyun‘s image being damaged and multiple advertisers seeking breach fees, the actual damages were estimated to be as high as 30 billion won, and the claim amount would be raised to that figure. Two properties under Kim Se-yi‘s name in the Gangnam district were seized.
According to the Korean Central Daily News, the Chinese foreign exchange network cited, the lawyer representing Kim Sai Lun‘s relatives was also listed as a subject of investigation. The police determined that he was involved in providing relevant materials and assisting in spreading false information, thus becoming an accomplice in the case.
In terms of advertising contracts, Kim Soo-hyun began to gradually recover the losses. In August 2026, the Seoul Eastern District Court made a judgment on a termination and refund lawsuit filed by Swiss watch brand Mido, rejecting the brand‘s request for a return of about 570 million won. The court ruled that the brand‘s termination grounds were not valid. Mido did not appeal, and the judgment came into effect. However, Kim Soo-hyun‘s dispute over advertising fees with numerous brands is still in trial.
This summer, Kim Soo-hyun gradually returned to public view. In August, he appeared on RCTI‘s live broadcast; on September 19, he attended The Fact Music Awards in Busan as a prize-giving guest, his first public appearance in Korea after about 18 months, and his emaciated appearance became media focus. On October 2, he held a large fan meeting in Manila, where about 20,000 fans flooded the venue, and he choked several times during his speech. The Disney+ series “Knock-Off” in which he starred is still in an indefinitely postponed state, with no definite broadcast date yet.
Kim’s last film, “We Every Day Every Day,” has been released in Korea on March 4, 2026. The film was released in 2021, after five years. Her relatives suffered great psychological pain during this period. One of her relatives tried to commit suicide before the film’s release and was unable to attend the screening event.
From the death of Kim Sai Lun to the explosion of accusations, from the public opinion trial to the dismantling of evidence, from the detention of the whistleblower to the difficult recovery of the parties, this one-and-a-half-year-long Luo Shengmen left a situation with no winner. And those chat screenshots that were once circulated as “iron evidence” ultimately proved to be just a carefully edited forgery.