Kim Soo-hyun's Team Says Comeback Is Under "Careful Consideration"

Kim Soo-hyun's legal representative says the actor's agency is weighing a return to work, but cautiously.

Attorney Ko Sang-rok, appearing on YTN Radio's *Wise Radio Life* on the 1st, said that "the specifics are something the agency is carefully deliberating" regarding a comeback timeline. He added that his team would "do everything to help the actor stand before the public again through his work."

Ko described Kim as a victim of extensive cybercrime whose "reputation and personhood were brought to the brink of complete destruction," and said the actor is now in the process of restoring that reputation. He stressed that "the actor's return to everyday life comes first" and cautioned against fixating on the 30 billion won figure, saying the more important thing is "a warm, supportive atmosphere from society that allows the actor to return to where he belongs."

On the matter of Kim Se-eui publicly releasing the warrant application filed against him, Ko said a warrant document exceeding 30 pages is "extremely rare," and that he understands prosecutors and police are "quite confident" in proving the charges against Kim Se-eui and his alleged accomplices.

Background: In March 2024, actor Kim Sae-ron — then in a period of self-imposed withdrawal following a drunk-driving incident — posted and deleted within three minutes a close-up photo of herself with Kim Soo-hyun, sparking dating rumors. Kim Sae-ron initially said she was preparing a statement, then days later announced she had decided not to release one. Kim Soo-hyun's agency Gold Medallist called the rumors "completely groundless" and said it had no idea what Kim Sae-ron's intentions were.

Kim Sae-ron died at her home on February 16 of last year at the age of 25. Starting March 10 of the same year, Kim Se-eui — head of the YouTube channel Gase-yeon — appeared alongside the bereaved family in broadcasts and press conferences to allege that the late actress had been in a relationship with Kim Soo-hyun for six years beginning when she was in the ninth grade and he was in his late twenties. Kim Se-eui presented KakaoTalk chat screenshots, audio recordings, and private photographs as evidence, and claimed that pressure from Kim Soo-hyun's side over debt repayment was the cause of her death.

Twenty-one days after the allegations emerged, Kim Soo-hyun held a press conference on March 31 and denied dating the late actress while she was a minor, countering that some of the evidence presented by the family — including the messenger chat logs — was fabricated.

Gase-yeon (가세연, short for 가로세로연구소) is a far-right YouTube channel known for publishing celebrity exposés; its founder Kim Se-eui faces criminal charges over the Kim Soo-hyun allegations.

a period of voluntary public withdrawal following a scandal, a standard step in Korean celebrity crisis management