Just when you thought the saga betweenKim Soo Hyunand the late Kim Sae Ron couldn’t get any messier, YouTuber Lee Jin Ho has dropped a bombshell that’s got everyone talking. Despite a court ban stopping him from making videos about the late actress, Lee Jin Ho released a 12-minute video packed with claims that both stars were dating other people between 2016 and 2019—flipping the script on Kim Sae Ron’s family’s accusations against Kim Soo Hyun. Here’s the full scoop, broken down into every jaw-dropping detail, written in simple, easy-to-read English.
The news hit hard today, April 9, 2025, and it’s stirring up a storm in the entertainment world. Lee Jin Ho says he’s put his “life and reputation” on the line to dig up the truth, and he’s come back with what he calls “decisive evidence” to prove Kim Soo Hyun didn’t date Kim Sae Ron when she was a minor. Buckle up—this is one wild ride.
Lee Jin Ho’s Big Reveal: A Timeline Twist
Lee Jin Ho kicked off his video by tackling the biggest claim head-on: that Kim Soo Hyun dated Kim Sae Ron when she was underage. Kim Sae Ron’s family has long insisted the two were together from 2015 to 2021, starting when she was just 15 and he was 27. But Lee Jin Ho says that’s not the full story.
He claims he spent months tracking down who Kim Sae Ron was really involved with since 2016. According to him, she dated a mix of people—non-celebrities, fellow actors, sports stars, businessmen, singers, part-time workers, idol trainees, and even an American husband later on. Meanwhile, he says Kim Soo Hyun was in a serious, secret relationship with someone else from 2016 to 2019. If that’s true, it blows a hole in the idea that the two were a couple during those years.
Kim Soo Hyun’s Secret Romance?
Lee Jin Ho dropped a major claim: Kim Soo Hyun was in a steady relationship with another person from 2016 until he finished his military service in July 2019—almost three whole years. He says this relationship was so under wraps that only Kim Soo Hyun’s closest friends knew about it.
To back this up, Lee Jin Ho points to a moment in 2018 when Kim Sae Ron visited Kim Soo Hyun’s family home during a long military break. A video from that time, dubbed the “Chicken Stew” video, shows them together—but Lee Jin Ho says it’s no proof of romance. He insists they just ordered food and hung out as friends. Plus, he claims Kim Sae Ron knew Kim Soo Hyun was already taken and still reached out to him a bunch of times, as shown in a FaceTime call log from 2018. Kim Soo Hyun, Lee says, kept his distance because he was loyal to his real partner.
Lee Jin Ho even brings up an old comment from Dispatch, a famous Korean news outlet, calling Kim Soo Hyun the “hardest celebrity to catch in a dating scandal.” He says the actor loved chilling at home or his family’s place, making it tough for anyone to snap pics of him with a partner. In that “Chicken Stew” video, Kim Soo Hyun’s with Lee Ro Be, his agency rep and cousin—not a secret girlfriend.
Kim Sae Ron’s Dating Life: A Different Story
Now, here’s where it gets juicy. Lee Jin Ho says Kim Sae Ron was busy dating too—but not Kim Soo Hyun. He paints her as super outgoing, saying she’d been seeing all kinds of people since high school. He even claims she wasn’t shy about showing affection in public, like kissing her partners out in the open.
To prove it, he shared photos and a video of Kim Sae Ron with a mystery guy in Seoul, between Noryangjin and Eonju stations, on May 27, 2019. The footage, he says, came from one of her close friends who was shocked to see her so lovey-dovey and filmed it. That clip made its way to her agency staff and, eventually, to Lee Jin Ho. He argues this shows she had a boyfriend while Kim Soo Hyun was still with his own partner—meaning no overlap between the two stars.
The video’s metadata locks the date at May 27, 2019, just before Kim Soo Hyun got out of the military on July 1, 2019. Kim Soo Hyun has said he only dated Kim Sae Ron from summer 2019 to fall 2020—after his military stint and after his long-term relationship ended. Lee Jin Ho says this lines up perfectly with his findings.
No Visual Proof—But Why?
Here’s the catch: Lee Jin Ho didn’t show any hard proof like clear pics or videos of Kim Soo Hyun’s secret relationship. He says he held back to avoid sparking “another witch hunt,” like what happened when Kim Soo Hyun got accused without solid evidence. He claims he’s got the goods—tips, stories, and “objective materials”—but he’s only sharing what he’s 100% sure of.
For Kim Sae Ron, he was more open. Those blurry photos and the video of her with another guy are his big reveal. He admits her face isn’t super clear, but he swears it’s her, caught in the act by someone who knew her well.
Calling Out Kim Sae Ron’s Claims
Lee Jin Ho takes direct aim at Kim Sae Ron’s family’s story. They’ve pointed to a KakaoTalk message where she said she dated Kim Soo Hyun from November 2015 to July 2021, calling him her “first love and last love.” But Lee says that’s off. He claims a photo she said was from 2016—when she was 16—was actually taken in 2019, when she was 20. Digital checks, he says, back this up.
He wonders if Kim Sae Ron mixed up her dates or stretched the truth. Either way, he says her timeline doesn’t match the facts he’s dug up. And he’s not done—he promises more evidence is coming to clear things up once and for all.
A Jab at Garosero and a Legal Mess
Lee Jin Ho ends with a shot at Kim Se Ui, the head of Garosero Research Institute, the YouTube channel that first pushed the underage dating claims. Kim Soo Hyun’s suing them and Kim Sae Ron’s family for 12 billion won (about $8 million USD) over defamation. Lee Jin Ho wishes Kim Se Ui “good luck” with that, saying the truth will come out slow but sure.
This comes after Kim Soo Hyun’s emotional press conference on March 31, 2025, where he denied dating Kim Sae Ron as a minor and said the evidence against him was fake. Now, Lee Jin Ho’s jumping in, claiming he’s got the real story.
What’s This All Mean?
This twist has fans and netizens buzzing. If Lee Jin Ho’s right, it could clear Kim Soo Hyun’s name from the underage dating mess that’s tanked his rep and cost him deals with brands like Prada. But without crystal-clear proof—like pics of Kim Soo Hyun’s mystery partner—it’s still his word against Kim Sae Ron’s family’s.
For Kim Sae Ron, it’s a sad chapter getting messier. Her family’s been fighting to link her struggles—and her death in February 2025—to Kim Soo Hyun and his agency, Gold Medalist. Lee Jin Ho’s video flips that, painting her as someone with an active dating life who wasn’t tied to Kim Soo Hyun back then.
