Kim Se-ui, head of the Garosero Research Institute, who is suspected of spreading false information such as that the cause of the late Kim Sae-ron’s death was pressure to repay debts from actor Kim Soo-hyun, attends a pre-arrest suspect questioning (warrant review) at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu on the 26th. Yonhap News Agency

Kim Se-ui, the operator of the YouTube channel Garosero Research Institute, has been referred to prosecutors in custody on charges of spreading false information about actor Kim Soo-hyun.

The Gangnam Police Station in Seoul has been investigating Kim on suspicion of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes, as well as on charges of defamation, intimidation, and attempted coercion.

Police have been investigating Kim for more than a year since May of last year, after a complaint was filed by representatives for Kim Soo-hyun.

Kim is suspected of disseminating via his YouTube channel and elsewhere claims that Kim Soo-hyun dated the late Kim Sae-ron when she was a minor, and that the cause of Kim Sae-ron’s death was pressure to repay debts from people around Kim Soo-hyun.

There is also a charge that he defamed Kim Soo-hyun by using artificial intelligence (AI) to manipulate Kim Sae-ron’s voice to claim, “I first had sexual relations with Kim Soo-hyun during the winter vacation of my second year of middle school”.

Police concluded that Kim acted this way, despite recognizing it was false, in order to draw public attention.

On the 2nd, after completing a detention validity review at the Seoul Central District Court, Kim met with reporters, argued for release, and denied the allegations.

He said, “As I have been detained and cannot respond actively, certain forces, as if they had been waiting, are engaging in serious dissemination of falsehoods and defamation against Kim Sae-ron and the bereaved family”, and “It could end up making it seem as though the claims by me and the bereaved family are all lies”.