Kim Se Ui, head of the Garosero Institute, who is accused of spreading false information about actor Kim Soo Hyun in relation to his scandal with Kim Sae Ron, has spoken on the charges against him.
The Seoul Central District Court held a detention hearing on May 26 for Kim Se Ui on charges including violating the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Crimes (filming or distribution using a camera, etc.) and defamation.
Kim Se Ui appeared around 9:59 a.m. and, when asked if he acknowledged the charges, said, “I do not admit any of them and plan to deny them all,” adding, “The warrant is nonsense that has not even clarified the basic facts.”
He further stated, “The issue is that we submitted AI-manipulated voice recordings, but the National Forensic Service said it is impossible to determine AI manipulation,” and “The Korean police are rejecting the National Forensic Service and seem to trust a private company commissioned by Kim Soo Hyun, which is unacceptable.”
Regarding the KakaoTalk conversation that characterized “unknown” as Kim Soo Hyun, which he revealed at a press conference in March 2025, Kim Se Ui claimed to have given prior notice of content reconstruction and described the arrest warrant application and request as “too intentional and hastily made.” He also said he would file a complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency against the staff of the Gangnam Police Station and the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office on charges including abuse of authority.
Kim Se Ui is accused of spreading false information through the Garosero YouTube, claiming that the late Kim Sae Ron dated Kim Soo Hyun when she was a minor and that the cause of Kim Sae Ron’s death was pressure from Kim Soo Hyun’s side to repay debts.
He is also charged with defaming Kim Soo Hyun by manipulating the late Kim Sae Ron’s voice using AI and fabricating false claims such as having had sexual relations for the first time during middle school winter break.