Yonhap News

The petition for a detention legality review that Kim Se-Eui, head of Garosero Research Institute, filed with the court seeking a ruling on the lawfulness of his detention was not accepted.

Criminal Division 8-1 of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judges Cha Seung-Hwan, Choi Hae-Il, and Choi Jin-Suk) held a detention legality review hearing on the 2nd for Kim Se-Eui, who was arrested on charges including defamation·intimidation·attempted coercion, and dismissed it, stating that “there is no ground for the petition.”

Kim Se-Eui filed for a detention legality review on the 31st of last month, five days after being taken into custody. This is a procedure in which the court re-examines the lawfulness·necessity of detention.

After about an hour-long hearing that day, Kim Se-Eui left the courtroom with both hands bound with rope restraints and also claimed that his detention was leading to defamation of the late Kim Sae-Ron.

However, with Kim Se-Eui’s detention maintained, the police, who have investigated the case for over a year, are expected to wrap up their probe into indications that he pressured Kim Soo-hyun’s side and soon refer the case to the prosecution.

Kim Se-Eui is accused of spreading via YouTube broadcasts and other channels claims that Kim Soo-hyun dated the late Kim Sae-Ron when she was a minor, and that the cause of her death was pressure from Kim Soo-hyun’s side to repay debts.

He is also suspected of damaging Kim Soo-hyun’s reputation by using artificial intelligence (AI) to manipulate Kim Sae-Ron’s voice, fabricating it to say things like “I first had sexual intercourse with Kim Soo-hyun during the winter break of my second year of middle school.”