Late Kim Sae Ron’s Former Manager Speaks Out “I Never Provided the Marriage Recording to Lee Jin Ho”
Controversy surrounding late actress Kim Sae Ron’s alleged secret marriage continues to intensify. After YouTuber Lee Jin Ho released a recorded conversation claiming it proves the rumor, legal tensions with the actress’s family have escalated. Now, the person allegedly featured in the audio Kim Sae Ron’s former manager, referred to as “A” has come forward to defend themselves.
In an exclusive interview with Star News on March 21, A firmly denied involvement, “I never gave the recording to Lee Jin Ho. The video was uploaded to YouTube without my consent.”
A expressed deep frustration, “I even called him and yelled, ‘Are you trying to save yourself by destroying me?’”
A had recently signed with Kim Sae Ron to support her return to the entertainment industry. They appear in the audio clip released by Lee Jin Ho on January 8 the same day Kim Sae Ron had uploaded a snap with a man and the caption “Marry” on her SNS.
In the recording, the woman believed to be Kim Sae Ron confirms that she had gotten married abroad and even mentioned having had an abortion. On March 20, Lee Jin Ho followed up by releasing another call recording between A and the actress’s close friend, “B,” allegedly made on the day Kim Sae Ron passed away, claiming it further supports his allegations.
Lee Jin Ho argued, “The family is targeting Kim Soo Hyun, but in reality, Kim Sae Ron was newly married and living with another man,” citing A’s recording to dispute the bereaved family’s narrative.
However, backlash was swift. Critics slammed the videos as “invasive” and “immoral”. The core question quickly became: Who leaked the recording?
A continues to deny all involvement, stating they neither shared the file nor agreed to any form of public disclosure. Legal experts say this could be a violation of Korea’s Protection of Communications Secrets Act, which criminalizes publishing recordings without the consent of the involved parties.
Previously, on March 17, Kim Sae Ron’s family filed a defamation lawsuit against Lee Jin Ho, claiming his videos caused severe psychological distress to the actress before her death.
In an earlier video, Lee Jin Ho defended himself by stating that he met with two of Kim Sae Ron’s managers in February 2024 to discuss helping her return to the spotlight. He said, “If any negative rumors emerged, I would reach out to her managers and ask them to take care of it instead of covering it on my channel. I never intended to defame her.”
After Kim Sae Ron was found deceased at her home in Seongdong-gu, Seoul on February 16, Lee Jin Ho made all related videos private. He claimed this was out of “respect for the deceased”.
However, the bereaved family’s legal representative argued this act could be considered evidence destruction, and called on police to conduct a search and seizure of the videos.
The family stated, “We believe what Lee Jin Ho and other cyber wreckers have done is a criminal act. Although current laws may not yet classify this as murder, we hope this tragic case leads to legal reforms that restore Kim Sae Ron’s reputation as an actress and prevent this kind of injustice from happening again. The media must be held accountable.”