Whether Kim Se-eui, head of the Garo Sero Institute, will be taken into custody will be decided today (26th) after he was accused of spreading false claims that allegedly defamed actor Kim Soo-hyun.
At 10:30 a.m. today, the Seoul Central District Court is holding a pretrial detention warrant hearing for Kim on charges including violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes (illegal filming/distribution using cameras) and defamation.
Prosecutors allege Kim spread baseless claims via YouTube and other platforms that Kim Soo-hyun dated the late Kim Sae-ron when she was a minor, and that pressure from Kim Soo-hyun’s side to repay debts directly caused her death.
Police also believe Kim edited a KakaoTalk screenshot he received from the late Kim Sae-ron’s bereaved family, changing the counterpart’s name to Kim Soo-hyun and making a total of seven edits. They further concluded an audio file purportedly containing Kim Sae-ron’s voice was forged using artificial intelligence (AI).
Depending on the results of today’s warrant hearing, a decision on whether to detain Kim could come as early as late this afternoon.