Actor Kim Soo-hyun. Courtesy of Gold Medalist

Attorney Go Sang-rok (Phil Law Firm), the representative of actor Kim Soo-hyun, said on the 14th, “With the stance of the bereaved now confirmed, the full reality of the nationwide fraud crime committed by Garo Sero Research Institute has been laid bare” while expressing the intention that “If materials related to Kim Soo-hyun that ‘Garo Sero Research Institute’ disclosed are distributed online, we will take legal action.”

On the same day, Attorney Go posted a notice on his YouTube channel titled ‘Warning regarding the dissemination of false information·private-life materials via online platforms and a cautionary request regarding Attorney Bu Ji-seok’.

He argued, “According to the recent stance of Attorney Bu Ji-seok (for the late Kim Sae-ron’s side), Mr. Lee and the bereaved have already, in effect, admitted to the crime.”

He said, “The stance of the bereaved family’s representative, Attorney Bu Ji-seok, as confirmed through a recent broadcast interview and rebuttal process, is as follows” and continued, “▲The bereaved stated ‘We never told Mr. Kim Se-eui that the photos in question were taken when she was a minor,’ and ▲for the June 2016 KakaoTalk, the sender name is ‘Unknown(Unkown),’ and the only reason it was viewed as actor Kim Soo-hyun is ‘because the deceased’s younger sibling said so,’ and ▲for the April 13, 2018 KakaoTalk, there exists only a cropped screenshot with no sender, recipient, or recipient reply at all, and ▲the bereaved said they have never thought or claimed ‘the deceased suffered because of actor Kim Soo-hyun and died.’ This exactly matches what I had previously stated definitively.”

Attorney Go went on to say, “▲The photos touted as evidence of a relationship when she was a minor are all photos from a short period between December 2019 and early spring 2020, that is, during an adult relationship, and ▲the June 2016 KakaoTalk messages were exchanged not by actor Kim Soo-hyun but by the deceased with another man at that time, and ▲the April 2018 KakaoTalk is worthless material for which even the sender cannot be identified, and ▲with the bereaved stating that the actor is unrelated to the death of the deceased, all essential premises underpinning this dissemination of falsehoods have completely collapsed,” while adding, “Now that the position of the bereaved is clearly confirmed, it appears a truth battle will continue between the bereaved and Kim Se-eui, and we expect investigative authorities to clarify this.”

Separately, Attorney Go added, “Apart from that, with the stance of the bereavedthe source of all the informationnow confirmed, the core whole picture of this cybercrime is for all intents and purposes already revealed,” and stated, “All materials related to the actor’s private life, the adult-relationship photos disclosed by Garo Sero Research Institute, postcards·letters, and the diaries·letters we were unavoidably compelled to disclose during public oral argument are materials concerning the private life of the actor and therefore should not have been disclosed without the actor’s consent. Garo Sero Research Institute’s act of broadcasting private materials without consent is in itself a civil tort.”

Attorney Go said, “Now that the core suspicions about the actor raised by Garo Sero Research Institute have been confirmed as untrue by the very source informants (Mr. Lee and the bereaved), there is no room to claim that the act of disclosure had justification such as a public-interest purpose,” and added, “From this point on, if any materials related to the actor’s private life are distributed in any manner without the actor’s consentregardless of whether they are materials already disclosed by Garo Sero Research Institute in the pastwe will pursue civil damages claims and, depending on the matter, consider additional criminal action.”

In response, Garo Sero Research Institute countered, “Upon confirmation with the bereaved side, the bereaved’s legal representative, and the production team of SBS ‘Curious Story Y’, all made it clear that Attorney Go’s claims differ from the facts.” It also announced plans for legal action, saying it suffered major harm, including defamation, due to the content in question.