“Kim Soo-hyun Prevention Law” Petition Gains Momentum: Calls to Raise Age of Statutory Rape to 19 Amid Scandal

On March 31, a petition titled “Petition for Raising the Statutory Rape Age and Strengthening Punishment, also Known as the “Kim Soo-hyun Prevention Law” was posted on the National Assembly’s electronic petition website.

The Petition’s Demands: Raise the Age, Strengthen the Law

The petitioner, identified only as Mr. A, argues that Korea’s current statutory rape law, which only protects minors aged 13 to 16, leaves a loophole for grooming and manipulation of older minors.

The petitioner wrote, “Despite Korea legally recognizing all individuals under 18 as minors, statutory rape law only protects those under 16. As a result, someone who grooms and deceives a child from a young age can avoid legal consequences.”

Citing the scandal surrounding Kim Soo-hyun, the petitioner continued, “Kim Soo-hyun allegedly groomed and dated actress Kim Sae-ron when she was only 15. But because the law doesn’t protect minors over 16, he cannot be held criminally accountable.”

The petition outlines two core demands:

1. Raising the statutory rape age from 13–16 to 13–19 years.
2. Increasing penalties from a fine for molestation and 2+ years in prison for rape to 2+ years for molestation and 5+ years for rape.

Public Pressure Mounts on Legal Reform

According to HeraldCorp, within less than a day, the petition had gathered over 20,000 signatures. As of the evening of April 7, the petition for the Anti-Kim Soo Hyun Act has collected over 50,000 supporting signatures.

According to regulations, any petition that receives more than 50,000 signatures within 30 days will be forwarded to a parliamentary subcommittee for review. Thus, the petition for the Anti-Kim Soo Hyun Act has met all required conditions. The petition will now be submitted to the parliamentary subcommittee, which will then have 90 days to consider whether to advance the petition to a full assembly session for discussion.

The petition follows allegations from Kim Sae-ron’s family that she and Kim Soo-hyun began dating in 2015 when she was 15 and he was 27. While Kim Soo-hyun denied this, KakaoTalk messages from 2016 and 2018 suggested otherwise, sparking further controversy. Kim Soo-hyun claimed the messages were manipulated and submitted them for forensic analysis. His legal team has since filed defamation and civil lawsuits. Despite his press conference and legal action, public trust remains shaken, raising concerns about laws protecting minors from power-imbalanced relationships.

A Growing Social Movement?

Whether or not the “Kim Soo-hyun Prevention Law” becomes a reality, its emergence underscores a rising public demand for legal reform, particularly in protecting minors from exploitative relationships, even when the lines of consent may appear legally blurred.

With the petition well on its way to 50,000 signatures, lawmakers may soon have no choice but to confront the legal gray zones exposed by one of Korea’s most high-profile celebrity scandals in recent years.