Kim Soo Hyun’s legal battle with advertisers is moving forward again as the actor prepares to return to work for the first time in about a year.
The Seoul Central District Court will reopen the third hearing on July 3rd in a 2.8 billion won ($1.8 million) damages lawsuit filed by a cosmetics brand against Kim and his agency, Gold Medalist, over a terminated model contract.
The case was filed in April 2025 and had been paused since its second hearing in March. The cosmetics brand previously said it decided to terminate Kim’s contract after controversy over his private life surfaced in March 2025, despite the deal originally running through August 2025.
Another civil case is also set to resume. On June 10th, the Suwon District Court will hold the third hearing in From Bio’s 3.96 billion won ($2.6 million) lawsuit against Kim and Gold Medalist. The case had been on hold for about eight months while the court waited for developments in a related criminal matter.
The renewed hearings come after Kim Se Eui, head of the YouTube channel Hoverlab, was referred to prosecutors under detention on charges including defamation, stalking-related offenses, distribution of illegally filmed material, attempted coercion and threats.
According to police, Kim Se Eui is accused of spreading claims in March 2025 that Kim Soo Hyun had dated the late Kim Sae Ron when she was a minor and that pressure from his agency over debt repayment was directly linked to her death. Police also believe he used generative AI to manipulate Kim Sae Ron’s voice and fabricated messages presented as relationship evidence. Kim Se Eui has denied the allegations.
The My Love from the Star actor is reportedly facing advertiser lawsuits totaling more than 10 billion won from brands including FromBio, Classys, Cuckoo Electronics, and Trendmaker. He also plans to increase his own damages claim against Kim Se Eui from 12 billion won ($7.8 million) to 30 billion won ($19.4 million)
At the same time, Kim is preparing to resume activities. He is scheduled to shoot an advertisement for the Philippine fashion brand Bench on July 14th, marking his first known work schedule since halting activities, including a pause in filming for the Disney Plus series Knock Off.
With his legal cases still ongoing and his first ad shoot now set, attention is on whether Kim Soo Hyun is entering a new phase in both his court battle and his career.
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