Attorney Bu Ji-seok (center), YouTuber Kim Se-eui (right). Photo=Senior Reporter Jeong Ji-yoon.

An attorney for actor Kim Soo-hyun conveyed the news of a request for a pretrial detention warrant for YouTuber Kim Se-eui, and revealed that attorney Bu Ji-seok, who had not been on their original complaint list, had been converted into a suspect during the investigation.

Go Sang-rok, the attorney representing actor Kim Soo-hyun, mentioned the request for a detention warrant for Kim Se-eui of the YouTube channel Garosero Research Institute in posts on the community tab of his YouTube channel on the 20th and 21st. The warrant application is a 32-page document that Kim himself disclosed on his YouTube broadcast that day.

Attorney Go stated, “Actor Kim Soo-hyun and his agency Gold Medalist did not file a complaint against attorney Bu Ji-seok”, and pointed out that the warrant application lists Bu and others as ‘suspects’. He added, “This is interpreted to mean that during the investigation the police recognized suspected collusion between Mr. Kim Se-eui and these individuals, booked them, and are conducting an investigation.”

Attorney Bu Ji-seok, legal representative for the bereaved family of the late Kim Sae-ron. Photo=Senior Reporter Jeong Ji-yoon

Go expressed the view that it is “extremely shocking, in that it is very unusual for the defense counsel for suspects to be identified as accomplices during the investigation and to be converted into suspects.”

Attorney Bu is under suspicion of disseminating false information after holding a joint press conference with Mr. Kim Se-eui on March 27, 2025. At the time, Bu disclosed KakaoTalk messages exchanged with the deceased by someone other than Kim Soo-hyun, including “When can I hold you and fall asleep?”, and made statements asserting that they were messages from Kim Soo-hyun. Attorney Go pointed out that, as a result, many in the public came to believe the falsehoods, thinking, “Would a lawyer lie?”

At first, Kim Soo-hyun's side excluded attorney Bu when filing the initial complaint because a clear conspiratorial relationship among them had not been externally revealed, but it now understands from this detention-warrant application that the investigative authorities have confirmed a conspiratorial relationship.

Actor Kim Soo-hyun, who faces allegations of dating a minor, states his position on his relationship with the late Kim Sae-ron at the Stanford Hotel in Mapo District, Seoul, on March 31, 2025. Reporter Han Su-bin

Go also addressed past controversies involving attorney Bu in his posts. Previously, Bu received a one-month suspension from the Korean Bar Association for running an advertisement with a false title on an electronic billboard at a Gangnam club and dancing there. In particular, it was reported that while pursuing a suit to contest the disciplinary action, he held the false-information press conference with Mr. Kim Se-eui and returned to the club that night to throw a celebratory party while showing scenes from the press conference on the billboard.

Kim Soo-hyun's side now says that, with a request for a pretrial detention warrant having been filed for Kim Se-eui, it will first closely watch whether the court issues the warrant. Go stated, “As for other individuals, such as attorney Bu Ji-seok, other YouTubers, or the parents of the deceased or Ms. Lee, we will have to wait for the results.”

By contrast, Kim said in a live broadcast the previous day that he had planned to report on a sex-crime case involving a politician in Vietnam, and claimed that the request by prosecutors for a detention warrant was a scheme to obstruct his reporting.

The warrant review hearing for Kim Se-eui will be held at the Seoul Central District Court on the 26th of this month.