South Korean authorities arrested Kim Se-ui, head of the Hover Lab YouTube channel with nearly 1 million subscribers, on defamation charges involving actor Kim Soo-hyun on May 26. The Seoul Central District Court issued the arrest warrant citing concerns Kim might destroy evidence or flee the country [1, 2, 3].
Kim Se-ui is accused of using artificial intelligence to fabricate audio recordings and fake text messages that falsely claimed Kim Soo-hyun dated actress Kim Sae-ron while she was underage. The allegations targeted Kim Soo-hyun, 38, and involved Kim Sae-ron, who died by suicide at age 24 in February 2025 [1, 2, 3].
Kim Soo-hyun publicly denied the underage dating claims but acknowledged he had a relationship with Kim Sae-ron. In March 2025, he held a tearful press conference saying, "I won’t ask you to trust me. I will prove it" [1, 2, 3].
Kim Soo-hyun’s agency, Gold Medalist, confirmed on May 27 that investigations found all the accusations and evidence provided by Hover Lab to be groundless [2]. Police said the false defamation severely damaged Kim Soo-hyun’s social and economic standing, and he is currently receiving psychiatric treatment [1].
Kim Se-ui denies the charges and criticized the arrest warrant, saying, "The warrant did not even properly organise the basic facts". He plans to file complaints against police and prosecutors over the manner of the investigation [1].
The case follows Hover Lab’s posting of AI-generated manipulated content throughout 2025 that falsely linked Kim Soo-hyun to an underage relationship with Kim Sae-ron [1, 3]. Authorities continue their investigation into the matter.
