On May 23, SBS News attracted attention when it published an article by the late actress Kim Sae Ron on a private social media account in September 2024, about 5 months before she passed away.
In it, Kim Sae Ron mentioned the celebrities who helped her and said, If I died, take a photo of this article and post it.
The former actor also expressed his desperate state of mind: Those who left me when I was at my most miserable, remember what they received from me.
According to an investigation by SBS News, Kim Sae Ron had financial difficulties after the accident due to drunk driving (taking place on May 18, 2022), so she borrowed money from many celebrities.
In it, a singer who lent money to Kim Sae Ron twice confirmed that he had transferred the money to the actor's family's account.
With Kim Sae Ron borrowing money from many acquaintances and the 700 million won film contract fines that her former management company Gold Medalis paid her in advance, Kim Sae Ron's total debt amounted to about 1.2 billion won.
In addition, in the post, Kim Sae Ron once again explained his 2022 incident.
She wrote: "I measured my breath alcohol concentration but the results were not clear, so I took a blood test and gave a high result, but that was the story from the day before. There has never been a power outage. However, I have fully compensated for the damage."
Kim Sae Ron's post immediately caused controversy, because the actor's statement contraries what Korean media had confirmed about the incident, as well as the court's verdict.
In April 2023, a Seoul court fined Kim Sae Ron 20 million won for violating the Road Traffic Act.
According to the media, Kim Sae Ron drove a car while intoxicated and crashed into a fence, tree and transformer station near Hakdong intersection, Gangnam district. The accident caused a power outage of 57 nearby stores for about 3-4 hours.
After causing the accident, Kim Sae Ron tried to flee the scene and refused to check for breath alcohol concentration as ordered by the police. After that, when taking a blood test at a hospital, her blood alcohol level was found to be 0.227%, much higher than the driving license revocation rate (0.08%).
Under the article of SBS News, the Korean public left many negative comments about Kim Sae Ron's statement, as well as criticized the actor's late family for still "catching" on their daughter when she was in trouble.
" issue a transfer to the family account? Sae Ron is truly a pillar of the family. Did her parents know that she borrowed money everywhere?
What are her parents doing? They let their daughter face difficult circumstances, but after her passed away, they used the name of their child to spread false information" - some notable comments.
