[K-enter] Kim Soo-hyun's agency addresses Kim Sae-ron relationship allegations

Time for some K-entertainment news with Bella Kim.

Bella, today we start with the controversy surrounding actor Kim Soo-hyun and the late actress Kim Sae-ron. Please fill us in with the latest updates.

This week, there has been some controversy surrounding relationship allegations between actor Kim Soo-hyun and the late actress Kim Sae-ron, who reportedly committed suicide last month. With the growing controversy, Kim Soo-hyun’s agency, Gold Medalist, initially announced it would issue a formal statement next week, but Kim Soo-hyun showed severe symptoms of psychological instability, so they urgently decided to make the statement today.

The statement said that Kim Soo-hyun and Kim Sae-ron were in a relationship for one year, from the summer of 2019 to fall of 2020. This would mean that Kim Sae-ron was not a minor at the time of their relationship, different from the claim that Kim Sae-ron’s family made through YouTube channel “Hover Lab.” They said the two were in a relationship since 2015, when Kim Sae-ron was a minor, for six years.

As public sentiment continued to sour, several brands featuring Kim Soo-hyun as a commercial model have begun adjusting their marketing strategies or closely monitoring the situation.

Please keep us updated. Now moving onto the next story, we have a K-pop group that's set a great achievement.

ENHYPEN have achieved their first “triple-million-seller” album since their debut. According to the circle chart on Thursday, the group’s second full-length album “Romance: UNTOLD,” released in July of last year, sold over 3 million copies as of February of this year. It sold more than 2.34 million copies in its first week alone, marking the highest initial sales of ENHYPEN.

“Romance: UNTOLD” is also doing very well on the global charts. The album ranked the highest among K-pop artists in the International Association of the Recording Industry (IFPI) at No. 2 and No. 4 respectively on the “2024 Global Album Sales Chart” and the “2024 Global Album Chart.” The album also ranked 9th in the album rankings and 10th in the combined album rankings of Japan’s “Oricon Annual Ranking 2024.”

Based on the explosive popularity of “Romance: Untold,” ENHYPEN, recorded 5.45 million cumulative album sales last year alone. This is very impressive as only three K-pop artists, Seventeen, Stray Kids and ENHYPEN, have exceeded 5 million cumulative annual sales in 2024.

Very impressive achievements! Lastly, we have a story on an animation film. What is it Bella?

We are going to talk about an animation film “Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning.” On Thursday, it surpassed 400-thousand viewers. The film, released on February 21st, is an occult blockbuster, depicting the beginning of an epic battle between exorcists with supernatural abilities and an ultimate evil. It's main target is adult, but the film is for 12 years and older. The film is based on the novel of the same title, which was first published in 1993 and has since sold over 10 million copies.

“Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning” is a unique combination of a horror film and an animation, so this has intrigued audiences, who are responding with great enthusiasm. With the enthusiasm from the viewers, the film is expected to rank No.1 among 2025 Korean animations.

Let’s see if it can make it to the top of the rankings. Thank you Bella for today’s stories.