SEOUL, May 25 (AJP) - South Korean prosecutors have sought an arrest warrant for a prominent YouTuber on charges of defaming actor Kim Soo-hyun and the late actress Kim Sae-ron through heavily fabricated evidence, including AI-manipulated audio.
The legal representative for Kim Soo-hyun reaffirmed on Sunday their policy of not directly responding to the allegations, emphasizing that the actor is strictly a victim of a cybercrime.
"Actor Kim Soo-hyun is simply a victim of a crime, not a party engaging in a legal dispute on equal footing with the suspects," lawyer Go Sang-rok said in a statement posted on social media. "We have not responded to these nonsensical claims and will continue to maintain this principle."
The statement follows a recent police conclusion that rumors spread by the YouTuber, identified as Kim Se-eui, were entirely false. Kim had publicly claimed that the actor dated and had sexual relations with the late Kim Sae-ron between 2015 and 2018, when she was a minor.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office requested an arrest warrant for Kim Se-eui on May 19 on charges including defamation, violation of the sexual violence punishment act, and attempted coercion.
According to the police warrant request, Kim allegedly manipulated text messages from 2016 by altering the sender's name and profile picture to make it appear as though the deceased actress was conversing with Kim Soo-hyun. Furthermore, he is accused of playing an AI-generated voice file at a press conference in May of last year, falsely mimicking the late actress's voice to claim a relationship dating back to middle school.
Police concluded that Kim Se-eui repeatedly distributed these fabricated materials with the malicious intent to defame the actor, fully aware that the allegations were untrue and that the actor had no connection to the actress's passing.
A court hearing to determine whether to grant the arrest warrant is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday at the Seoul Central District Court.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.
