As the late Kim Sae Ron’s bereaved family continues to make additional revelations regarding the actress’s alleged relationship with Kim Soo Hyun, a comment claiming that actor Won Bin offered to pay off her 700 million KRW (approx. 482,047 USD) debt has surfaced.
On March 11, Kim Se Ui, the operator of the YouTube channel Garo Sero Research Institute, held a live broadcast on the channel, revealing additional details provided by Kim Sae Ron’s family.
During the broadcast, Kim Se Ui disclosed a message that the late Kim Sae Ron had reportedly sent to Kim Soo Hyun on March 19, 2024, the assumed date when she received a legal notice demanding the payment of 700 million KRW. According to the message, Kim Sae Ron pleaded, “Oppa, it’s Sae Ron. I received a certified letter. I’m being sued. You said you’d give me plenty of time, so I’ve been diligently preparing for my comeback, planning to repay you little by little with each project. It’s not that I refuse to pay, but I simply can’t come up with 700 million KRW all at once. It’s not that I won’t, I just can’t. Do I really have to go to court? Please help me. I’m begging you—just give me more time.”
Kim Se Ui further claimed, “Kim Sae Ron repeatedly sent messages and made several calls to Kim Soo Hyun, but he did not answer. Eventually, when she called using her cousin’s phone, that number was shared with entertainment reporters, who then called it to confirm if it was really Kim Sae Ron.”
In the comment section of that broadcast, a netizen claimed: “In another video, Kim Sae Ron’s aunt announced that she would soon release a three-minute recording. Also, I heard that Won Bin knew about the suffering Kim Sae Ron was enduring due to the 700 million KRW debt and wanted to pay it off for her. Won Bin is truly incredible. This makes me tear up. But Kim Soo Hyun, despite having a fortune worth hundreds of billions of KRW, couldn’t hold back and pressured her with legal notices, demanding the money back. In the end, it’s as if he forced her out of her home and drove her to her death.”
Born in 2000, Kim Sae Ron passed away on February 16 at the age of 25. During her lifetime, she faced public scrutiny following a drunk-driving accident in May 2022, in which she crashed into street trees, a transformer, and other roadside structures near the Hakdong Intersection in Gangnam, Seoul. She later issued a handwritten apology and personally met with the affected business owners to apologize, but she continued to suffer from malicious comments online.
Kim Sae Ron gained widespread recognition after starring alongside Won Bin in the 2010 film ‘The Man from Nowhere.’ Notably, during her elementary school years in 2010, she posted on Cyworld, “A mini laptop that Won Bin Ahjussi picked out for me on my birthday. Thank you! I’ll grow up to be a good adult like you.”
