[theqoo] [EXCLUSIVE] PROSECUTION REQUESTS FOR KIM SE-UI’S ARREST WARRANT FOR DEFAMING KIM SOOHYUN… “ARREST NECESSARY DUE TO CONCERN OF S*****DE”

According to reporting, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office filed for an arrest warrant on the 19th, stating that there were sufficient grounds for detention in connection with alleged violations of the Special Act on the Punishment of S****l Crimes (including distribution of illegally filmed materials).

The warrant hearing for Kim Se-ui will take place at 10:30 a.m. on the 26th at the Seoul Central District Court.

Earlier, the Gangnam Police Station in Seoul, which investigated the case following Kim Soohyun’s complaint, cited the seriousness of the crime, risk of repeat offenses, possibility of destroying evidence or fleeing, and concerns about harm toward the victim or key witnesses as reasons for requesting detention.

In the arrest warrant request submitted to prosecutors on the 14th, police stated:

“Without properly verifying the facts, the suspect repeatedly spread false claims through YouTube broadcasts and press conferences that the complainant (Kim Soohyun) dated and had s****l relations with the deceased (Kim Saeron) while she was a m*nor, and that pressure from the complainant’s side over debt repayment caused the deceased’s d**th.”

Police further alleged that Kim Se-ui received screenshots of KakaoTalk conversations from the bereaved family in which the deceased had spoken with someone labeled “Unknown,” then altered the screenshots to make them appear as though the conversations were actually between Kim Soohyun and Kim Saeron by inserting Kim Soohyun’s photo into the profile section and changing the conversation partner’s name from “Unknown” to Kim Soohyun.

Police added:

“Although the suspect knew the identity of the person the deceased spoke with had not been confirmed, he posted manipulated KakaoTalk materials to make them appear to be genuine conversations with the complainant. He also played what police describe as an AI-manipulated audio file of the deceased during a press conference, while claiming that the deceased first had sexual relations with the complainant during the winter vacation of her second year of middle school and that the complainant’s side attempted to bribe the informant with 4 billion won for the recording file.”

[…]

They also stated that Kim may be under significant psychological pressure due to his involvement in political rallies and various social and economic controversies, and that if he were formally charged and put on trial, his psychological support system could collapse.

Police additionally referenced the late journalist Kim Yong-ho, who previously co-hosted Gaseyeon broadcasts and d**d by s****de shortly before a scheduled pre-arrest interrogation, arguing that a similar risk could not be ruled out in Kim Se-ui’s case and that securing custody was therefore necessary.

They also noted that Kim Saeron’s father allegedly refused investigators’ requests to submit the actress’s final cellphone, arguing that as long as related parties still have access to the materials, there remains a high possibility that evidence could be destroyed, altered, or tampered with.

[…]

However, he argued that the National Forensic Service had previously informed Gangnam Police that it could not determine whether the recording had been AI-generated, and said:

“The forensic agency concluded it was ‘undeterminable,’ but police are definitively calling it AI-manipulated. That doesn’t add up.”

Kim also stated that the bereaved family had commissioned forensic analysis of Kim Sae-ron’s cellphone and confirmed that conversations between her and Kim Soo-hyun existed on KakaoTalk, which they later disclosed during press conferences.

He claimed that after Kim Soohyun changed his phone number and created a new account, the conversation counterpart later appeared as “Unknown,” and said they repeatedly clarified during press conferences that the displayed chat logs were reconstructed CG visuals rather than original screenshots.
[…]