On March 12, a topic titled “The story of Kim Soo-hyun’s managers’ sexual assault from 10 years ago is re-emerging” was published on the Korean forum “theqoo”, drawing almost 60,000 views after just 2 hours.
The topic in question cited an article reported by media outlet Herald News on October 26, 2012. According to this article, a man believed to be the manager of actor Kim Soo-hyun was arrested by the police for frequently wandering around areas such as Gangnam and Yongsan in Seoul to commit sexual crimes. At the time, the Gangnam District Police revealed that A (24 years old) was arrested and prosecuted under the Act on the Punishment of Sexual Crimes for breaking into the homes of women in their 20s and 30s at night to assault and harass them.
In particular, A was accused of committing a total of six sexual crimes in areas such as Seoul and Busan since November of the previous year. Among them, on the 16th of the previous month, A followed a woman on her way home in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam, broke into her house, and sexually assaulted her.
The police stated that A typically entered victims’ homes through open windows or approached them in elevators to carry out his crimes, adding, “A usually targeted victims who were alone at night, primarily women living alone in their 20s and 30s.” It was also confirmed that A was a repeat offender with a tendency to be dependent on sexual crimes.
At the time this article was published, Kim Soo-hyun’s then agency, KeyEast, stated that the A was not Kim Soo-hyun’s dedicated manager and requested that the actor’s name be removed from the case. However, long-time fans of Kim Soo-hyun claimed that the person in question was a close friend and one of the actor’s “trusted” acquaintances.
Comments such as “Kim Soo-hyun himself said that this manager was his close friend”, “This friend of Kim Soo-hyun was a violent person, an alcoholic, a gambler, and even a sex offender. Can Kim Soo-hyun really be uninvolved?”, “An artist’s manager is with them almost 24/7, so it’s obviously a very close relationship”, and “I think they must have shared similar values and morals…”, were cited as netizens’ reaction at the time.
Meanwhile, many netizens were shocked as they learned of this resurfaced issue. Below are some comments from netizens:
- Wow.. Seriously, it’s the first time I’ve seen this. It’s even more amazing that it was covered up to the point I’ve never heard of this.
- This is really disgusting….
- He’s not just a manager, he’s a close friend. If your close friend is a sexual assaulter, then… well
- People always say that friends stick together.
- The more I know (about Kim Soo-hyun), the scarier it gets
Sources: Kbizoom