Korean netizens are questioning Kim Sae Ron’s career choices after she joined Gold Medalist, the agency co-founded by Kim Soo Hyun. Discussions online highlight a noticeable change in her filmography, leading many to believe the agency mishandled her career. The recent controversy surrounding Kim Sae Ron and Kim Soo Hyun has amplified these concerns.
A Stalled Career?
One netizen analyzed Kim Sae Ron’s work, noting a clear difference before and after her move to Gold Medalist in January 2020. “When looking at her filmography, we can see when Kim Sae Ron was signed with YG, she was steadily building her career with independent films. But then there was a sudden break in her filmography after 2018,” the netizen explained.
The analysis further pointed out, “The same goes for her drama career. Before transferring to Gold Medalist, she appeared in major broadcast dramas, but after moving to Gold Medalist, aside from a special appearance, her roles have been in KakaoTV web dramas.”
A particularly concerning point was her lack of substantial child roles after 2015’s “Snowy Road.” The netizen stated, “2015 was when she started dating Kim Soo Hyun, and at the time, as a middle schooler, she was at a stage where she could have built a strong career as a child actress, but she attempted an image transformation…. Think about it: if a middle school/ high school-aged actress tried to get adult roles, it would have been difficult for her to build a career, and she probably didn’t receive many offers either.”
The netizen concluded, “This is proof that the agency didn’t manage her properly. People might ask ‘Could it be because the agency had so many actors that they neglected her?’ But Gold Medalist was a newly established company. Conclusion: If she had never met Kim Soo Hyun, she probably wouldn’t have ended up at Gold Medalist. She would have gradually built her career. Even if she had been involved in a drunk driving incident, she would have at least received ‘minimal’ protection.”
Netizen Reactions
Other netizens shared similar sentiments, expressing regret and frustration:
“It really blocked her from growing quickly as an actress in the industry.” “I thought she was a good actress and I always wondered why she wasn’t getting more roles…” “I didn’t really know Kim Sae Ron, but I felt like she wasn’t doing many projects or was mostly doing web dramas compared to other child actresses, so I thought maybe she wasn’t a good actress. But then I realized, with that Gold Medalist agency, if they really tried, they could have gotten her a lot of good projects. Just look at Choi Hyun Wook – he’s been getting a lot of great roles, even though there are fewer good roles for actors his age.” “When she did that Kakao web drama, I thought it was odd, but since web dramas were becoming popular at that time, I accepted it. But now we know about all this behind-the-scenes stuff…” “It’s really unfortunate.” “Those evil bastards.” “She was such a talented child actress who even went to Cannes twice, yet this happened to her.” “Since transferring to Gold Medalist, she hasn’t really done any child roles… at that age, she should still be doing plenty of child roles.” “I’m really sorry for her.” “Such evil people.” “If she hadn’t met that devil (Kim Soo Hyun), maybe she would’ve become a star with a solid career without any controversies. A talented actress was just lost like this… it’s so frustrating.” “She could have built her career… she was so young and it’s so sad.” “I always thought of Kim Sae Ron once in a while. She was so young but so good at acting. I wondered why she’s such a praised young actress but didn’t appear on main broadcast projects. And then I saw that she would be in a web drama so I thought she was taking things easy… No one knew it was because of her agency…”
The comments suggest a widespread belief that Kim Sae Ron’s potential was not fully realized under Gold Medalist’s management.
