One of South Korea’s most recognizable A-list actors has seen his decades-long career completely upended by a damaging defamation scandal built entirely on fabricated evidence, authorities now confirm. South Korean law enforcement has announced they are pursuing an arrest warrant against a popular YouTuber accused of forging digital proof to falsely claim top Hallyu star Kim Soo-hyun dated late actress Kim Sae-ron while she was a minor.\n\nThe unsubstantiated allegations first emerged in 2024, just after Kim Sae-ron died by suicide at age 24. The content creator at the center of the controversy, Kim Se-ui, who commands a following of nearly one million subscribers on his YouTube channel, published what he claimed were private text message exchanges between the two actors and an audio recording of the late actress admitting she had a relationship with Kim Soo-hyun starting in middle school. For months, these materials were taken as credible by much of the public, and gained widespread traction after Kim Sae-ron’s family publicly endorsed the YouTuber’s claims.\n\nAfter a thorough investigation, however, police have confirmed that every piece of evidence released by the YouTuber was manipulated. Investigators say the voice recording was entirely generated using artificial intelligence, and the text message screenshots were edited from messages Kim Sae-ron sent to other contacts to falsely imply they were exchanged with Kim Soo-hyun. According to police filings cited by South Korean outlet JoongAng Ilbo, the creator knowingly spread these falsehoods for financial gain from his high-traffic channel. Authorities add that the hoax had devastating, irreversible consequences for the actor: it completely destroyed his public standing, halted all his professional and commercial work, and eliminated the foundation of his acting career. Law enforcement also confirmed Kim Soo-hyun continues to undergo psychiatric treatment in the wake of the unrelenting public backlash.\n\nKim Soo-hyun has consistently denied the core allegation that he dated Kim Sae-ron while she was underage. Initially, his agency denied the pair had ever been involved romantically, but the actor later clarified at an emotional press conference in March 2025 that the two did date for one year, but only after Kim Sae-ron reached legal adulthood. \”I can’t admit to something I didn’t do,\” he told reporters at the time, fighting back tears. Shortly after that press appearance, Kim Soo-hyun filed criminal complaints and civil lawsuits against both the YouTuber and Kim Sae-ron’s family for spreading false accusations.\n\nSince the scandal broke, Kim Soo-hyun — once a fixture on hit Korean television series and a top-earning endorser for major global brands — has not made any public appearances. The upcoming Disney+ series *Knock-Off*, which he had nearly completed filming when the allegations surfaced, has been pushed to an indefinite release date.\n\nIn response to the arrest warrant application, Kim Se-ui has pushed back against authorities, posting a video claiming law enforcement’s allegations against him are a “subterfuge meant to disrupt his investigation” into the actor. As of Tuesday, neither Kim Soo-hyun nor his agency has issued any public comment on the latest development in the case.\n\nThe scandal shines a new light on the intense public scrutiny that celebrities face in South Korea, where even minor missteps can lead to a complete end to a star’s career. It also underscores the growing risk of AI-generated disinformation targeting public figures. Kim Sae-ron herself was no stranger to online harassment: once regarded as one of South Korea’s most promising young rising actresses, she faced widespread online vitriol after being fined for a drunk driving incident in 2022, years before her death.