On February 16, actress Kim Sae-ron sadly passed away at just 24 years old. The day after her funeral, on February 18, her biological father reached out to her landlord, asking for the return of her 50 million KRW jeonse deposit (lump-sum lease). He thought it was her money, but turns out, it wasn’t quite that simple.
It turns out the person who reached out to the landlord during the mourning period to ask for the return of the late actress Kim Sae-ron’s jeonse (rental deposit) was actually her biological father. But that deposit wasn’t actually hers—it was money borrowed from an executive at an education company.
There had been buzz in the entertainment world that someone was trying to embezzle the jeonse money. But in reality, her dad simply didn’t know the full story. According to a detailed report from Money Today on the 2nd, he called the landlord on February 18, just a day after Kim Sae-ron’s funeral, thinking the 50 million KRW deposit was his daughter’s and asked for it back.
One real estate insider shared, “The father probably didn’t know how Kim Sae-ron had secured the Jeonse house. The landlord was initially taken aback by the family’s request but eventually returned the money to Mr. A.”
But the landlord explained that the contract was actually under the name of “Mr. A,” an executive from an education company. Mr. A had apparently covered the deposit not once, but twice, when Kim Sae-ron was struggling financially. That includes a multi-family house in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu where she stayed in 2023, and another place in Seongsu-dong, Seongdong-gu, where she was living until her passing.
Also, singer “Mr. B,” a close friend of Kim Sae-ron, chipped in to help with the deposit for the Nonhyeon-dong residence. She had initially asked both Mr. A and Mr. B for a loan, but they chose to just cover the deposit themselves to avoid getting into a direct financial entanglement with a friend.
Her dad reportedly accepted the landlord’s explanation after learning the money wasn’t in his daughter’s name.
Even in such a tough spot, Kim Sae-ron never missed paying rent. “Even in that difficult situation, Kim Sae-ron never missed a monthly rent payment. I know she paid it all through part-time work,” said the same real estate insider.
Now about that big debt—there was a claim that she was harassed over collecting 700 million KRW by her former agency. But that’s not quite how it happened.
Back in May 2022, Kim Sae-ron had to pay damages and penalties due to a DUI incident, and she borrowed 700 million KRW from her agency, Gold Medalist, to cover it. But by 2023, Gold Medalist wrote it off as a bad debt, acknowledging that it’d be hard for her to pay it back.
“Bad debt write-off” basically means the company won’t go after her legally for the money anymore—it’s considered unrecoverable. Gold Medalist did send two certified letters to Kim Sae-ron’s side, but explained it was just part of a formal process and asked for understanding. Kim Sae-ron didn’t make any interest payments to them either.
There’s also a pretty controversial claim from her family about her supposed relationship with actor Kim Soo-hyun. They’re saying Kim Sae-ron was dating Kim Soo-hyun from late 2015—back when she was still in middle school—up until July 2021. The “proof” is a message she allegedly sent a friend.
In that message, she wrote: “(My relationship with Kim Soo-hyun) lasted from November 19, 2015, to July 7, 2021. I was 16, and he was 30. That’s how our six-year relationship ended.”
She also claimed, “(At Kim Soo-hyun’s suggestion) I signed with Gold Medalist without any conditions and worked tirelessly, even taking on rookie casting and visual directing.” And there was apparently a photo taken with Kim Soo-hyun in “2016” that she mentioned as part of her story.
But there are some pretty big holes in that claim. For one, Kim Soo-hyun was actually 28 in 2015—not 30. Also, both of them were reportedly dating other people between 2016 and 2019. And insiders say Kim Sae-ron never actually held a real working role at Gold Medalist.
About that “2016” photo—it turned out it was actually taken after 2019. Plus, some of the other photos her side presented as proof of her relationship with Kim Soo-hyun turned out to be of a completely different man. And that spicy chicken (dak-bokkeumtang) video shot at Kim Soo-hyun’s house in 2018? Yeah, other people were there too.
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