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The investigation into Kim Soo-hyun for an alleged violation of the Child Welfare Act is coming to a close. After the police decided not to file charges in late July, the prosecution took over the case and has now completed its review of the evidence submitted to it. It returned the documents to the investigators on September 3 without requesting further investigation, thereby upholding the police’s conclusion that there was insufficient evidence.
According to Star News, on September 3, the prosecutor's office returned the investigative documents related to the complaints against Kim Soo-hyun for violating the Child Welfare Act and making a false accusation.
This step is important because it means that The police's decision not to file charges, made on July 29, remains unchanged. The investigation launched after the complaints were filed about one year and four months ago is thus considered closed.
The prosecutor's office is not requesting a new investigation
Comme As we explained in late July, the Seongdong Police Department had decided to not forward the Kim Soo-hyun case file to the prosecutor's office, concluding after its investigation that the evidence gathered was insufficient to establish the offenses with which it had been charged.
Kim Sae-ron’s family had accused the actor, among other things, of having a relationship with her when she was a minor and of committing acts that violated the Child Welfare Act. Kim Se-ui, head of the Garo Sero Institute, had also filed a complaint for false accusation after being sued by Kim Soo-hyun himself.
After reviewing the statements of the various parties, the documents submitted, and the circumstances surrounding the alleged relationship, the police concluded that they did not have sufficient evidence to proceed with these charges.
The case had nevertheless been forwarded to the prosecution for review.
According to new information released on September 7, Prosecutors did not request either a further investigation or a new investigation After reviewing the documents, they simply returned the case file to the police.
The decision of July 29 therefore stands, and barring any new procedural developments, This aspect of the case is now coming to a close.
Koh Sang-rok, Kim Soo-hyun's attorney, made a point of clarifying the scope of this investigation, explaining that it was not limited to a specific period of Kim Sae-ron’s youth: «In this case, the issue was whether the allegations that Kim Soo-hyun had dated Kim Sae-ron were true—including during the period when she was under 18, while she was in her third year of high school according to the Korean school system— and whether, during this alleged relationship, acts of sexual or emotional abuse constituting a violation of the Child Welfare Act had been committed.»
The police ultimately concluded that the evidence reviewed did not support a finding that Kim Soo-hyun had violated this law.
Several separate proceedings are ongoing
However, the conclusion of this investigation does not mean that All legal cases related to the controversy have been resolved.
Kim Soo-hyun and his agency remain involved in several civil disputes with former advertising partners.
In late August, the actor had secured an initial favorable ruling in this matter : The Seoul Eastern District Court had rejected the request for Mido, who was seeking approximately 570 million won, representing a portion of the payments made under his advertising contract.
The court had ruled that the conditions justifying the termination of the contract had not been met. However, this decision does not prejudge the outcome of the other advertising disputes, whose contracts and arguments must be examined separately.
At the same time, the authorities are pursuing separate proceedings against Kim Se-ui. He was taken into custody in May on charges related, among other things, to the dissemination of false information about Kim Soo-hyun, before being indicted in June. His trial has since been delayed following a request for a trial by jury.
Authorities also reportedly concluded that the recording presented as containing Kim Sae-ron’s voice had been fabricated using artificial intelligence and that KakaoTalk conversations attributed to Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Sae-ron had been tampered with. This development had already marked a significant turning point in the legal proceedings of the case.
For Kim Soo-hyun, the prosecutor's office's decision therefore amounts above all to confirmation that the investigation directly addressing the allegations of violations of the Child Welfare Act will not be reopened at this stage. After about one year and four months of proceedings, this phase is now drawing to a close.
A return to his current activities
The actor is now set to resume his activities, with an appearance scheduled for September 19 at The Fact Music Awards, a fan meeting with the Bench brand on October 2, and an appearance at the 2026 Asia Artist Awards on December 5 and 6, 2026. Regarding Knock Off, all eyes are on Disney+!
