24-year-old South Korean actress Kim Sae Ron’s death has once again lifted the lid on pervasive double standards surrounding excessive online hate suffocating Hallyu celebrities. The Beathhounds actress, who made her acting debut at an even younger age of 9, was found dead at her home in Seoul on February 16.
The police have since declared her death a suicide. “We believe she made an extreme choice and plan to handle it as a suicide,” said an officer, per Yonhap News Agency on Monday.
The Netflix star was pushed into hiding after a 2022 DUI controversy marred her reputation. Kim went on a professional hiatus after crashing her car into a roadside electrical transformer box in a drunken state. She was fined $20 million won, or $13,850 US.
Also read | Netflix star Kim Sae Ron’s final film’s director breaks silence after her death: ‘I feel deeply saddened…’
However, in addition to the monetary fine, the incident took a toll on her emotionally and professionally. Driven out of the spotlight at the expense of her humiliation, the actress persistently tried to make an acting comeback. However, all those attempts fell through due to prolonged public backlash.
Yale University professor compares the Kim Sae Ron tragedy to a ‘real-life version of Squid Game’
“Kim Sae Ron’s death feels like one of someone pushed to the edge. A society that buries people without giving them a second chance after a mistake is not a healthy one,” Na Jong Ho, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale University, reflected on Facebook on February 17.
Na, previously seen on You Quiz on the Block, compared the never-ending cases of Korean society leaving no room for redemption. “Our society discards those who stumble and moves on as if nothing happened. It feels like a massive, real-life version of ‘Squid Game.’ How many more lives must be lost before we stop inflicting this suffocating shame on people?” he added, per the Korea Times.
Calling for social reflection at large, he went on to say, “The last news I saw about her was an article saying she had to work part-time due to financial difficulties. I also remember seeing how the café she worked at was flooded with malicious comments. How many more lives must be lost before we stop imposing relentless, destructive shame without any room to breathe? Now is the time for social dialogue and reflection.”
Singer Migyo mourns Kim Sae Ron’s death + calls out double standards
Similarly, singer Migyo called out the endless stream of malicious comments on the Internet. Mourning Kim Sae Ron’s death, she wrote on Instagram, “Only when a person dies do the malicious commenters stop. I don’t think malicious commenters even know they are writing malicious comments.”
“The media and broadcasts are the same. They troll with the issues they find and post provocative articles. But after someone dies, they act like they weren’t a part of it. It’s disgusting. It takes nothing to try and kill a person. Only the dead are unfortunate. May the deceased rest in peace,” she added, per Koreaboo.
Financial woes engulfed the Bloodhounds star as she was shunned after DUI controversy
A friend of Sae Ron recently revealed that after the drunk driving incident, she changed her name to Kim Ah Im to apply for a job at a cafe to make ends meet amid financial woes. However, that didn’t end well, either. Although the actress remained unrecognised initially, she was served a termination notice after her pictures were circulated in online communities, and netizens instantly caught on.
Before her passing, Kim Sae Ron backed out of a role in the Trolley series. Most of her storyline was also edited out of Beathhoundswhich is now her final K-drama project. She ultimately planned to return to acting through a play in April last year. Guitar Man, a movie expected to be released later this year, will be her final project.
That opportunity was also scrubbed due to renewed public hate. The Korean actress fully admitted to her blunder at the time of the DUI crash, but in light of the persistent hate, she cracked at one point. In a now-deleted short video on Instagram, she broke down, “Can’t you all just stop?”
Narrative flipped over after her death
Sadly, it took her death for fan communities to finally give in, sparking discussions about the unwarranted scrutiny celebrities, especially ones riding the Hallyu wave, face.
“Kim Sae-ron acknowledged her mistakes, apologised, and tried to move on with her life. But the constant hostility and public indifference she faced exceeded what anyone could bear. When we see politicians guilty of far more serious crimes living freely without facing the same scrutiny, we cannot help but question the double standards applied to celebrities,” read a statement on the online community DC.
Media backtracks previous critical headlines targeting Kim Sae Ron
With Kim’s death making headlines worldwide, K-media outlets have belatedly switched their narrative, remembering how hard things were for her. An AllKpop article with the headline, “Late Kim Sae Ron continued to show love for abandoned animals despite harsh criticism,” garnered severe backlash for suddenly back-pedalling.
Kookmin Ilbo also posthumously reported that A Brand New Life star personally visited and compensated all 57 stores affected by the transformer crash in Gangnam in May 2022. The actress even shared a handwritten apology on her Instagram at the time. “I was shocked when Kim Sae Ron came to apologise in person,” a store owner expressed their surprise at a celebrity directly admitting to their faults and showing accountability, says the report.
Kim went on to suffer financial difficulties while facing incessant hate despite her apologies and efforts. However, the media barely put a positive spin on the headlines with her name in them while she was still alive. The same can’t be said now that she’s no longer with us.
Rest in peace, Kim Sae Ron.
