Kim Sae-ron’s close associate “She suffered from financial difficulties, her depression was severe”

On Feb 16th, the Seoul Seongdong Police Station received a report stating that Kim Sae-ron had been found deceased at her residence at 4:54 PM. A close acquaintance, who was scheduled to meet her, discovered her body upon visiting her home.

Kim Sae-ron had recently been preparing for a legal name change and had completed filming her comeback movie “Guitar Man” in November last year. Prior to that, in May last year, she had attempted a return through the play “Dongchimi” but faced backlash, and her health was reportedly in poor condition.

According to a close associate, Kim Sae-ron suffered from severe depression during preparations for the play. Her declining health was evident as she was seen turning pale during rehearsals. Eventually, after discussions with the production team, she had no choice but to withdraw from the project. Her emotional pain began taking a toll on her physical health as well.

Kim Sae-ron was fined 20 million KRW for driving under the influence near Gangnam, Seoul in May 2022. She had crashed into electrical transformers, causing a power outage that affected multiple buildings and businesses. The public backlash was immense, making her return to the industry extremely difficult.

Kim Sae-ron compensated the affected businesses and paid for the damages to the transformers. During this time, she also parted ways with her agency Gold Medalist. The agency calculated penalty fees and billed Kim Sae-ron, leaving her struggling to repay debts amounting to several hundred million KRW.

As the main financial provider for her family, Kim Sae-ron faced severe financial difficulties. The widely reported café part-time job she took on was indeed to cover living expenses and pay off her debts. Some rumors claimed she was merely helping out at an acquaintance’s coffee shop, but these were false.

Kim Sae-ron actually worked part-time at a café near Yaksu-dong, Seoul, clocking in from morning until sundown. Her close associate was so concerned about her safety that they advised her against walking home alone at night.

In addition to her café job, Kim Sae-ron also tutored aspiring actors in private acting lessons. However, this was not enough to cover the enormous penalty fees she owed. The combination of financial struggles and public scrutiny only worsened her depression.

Her close associate stated, “Sae-ron’s depression was severe, and those around her were very worried. Despite that, she was determined to make a comeback and voluntarily sought treatment for her depression. But with the public sentiment being so negative, emotional wounds don’t heal overnight.” They added, “It was frustrating because she couldn’t openly share just how much she was suffering.”

According to the police, Kim Sae-ron did not leave a suicide note and is believed to have taken her own life. A police official stated, “There were no signs of an outsider having broken in or criminal activity, but we are continuing to investigate the circumstances of her death.”