Former short track star's shocking death rumor was not true.. Kim Geon-woo: "Apologies for the confusion, suspecting hacking" [Star Issue]

*This content was translated by AI.

Former South Korean short track national team member Kim Geon-woo directly denied rumors of his death.

On the 23rd, in a lengthy post, Kim clarified that the death rumors were baseless and stated, "I sincerely apologize for causing confusion and concern to many people due to this incident. The post in question was neither written nor posted by me; it appeared without my knowledge or consent."

Earlier that day, a funeral notice claiming Kim had died drew public attention. Following reports of his death, waves of condolences from fans ensued, but the situation escalated when acquaintances and ice skating officials confirmed he was alive.

Kim explained, "At the time the post was published, I was unable to access my account normally." He added, "I was unaware that the post had been uploaded until I learned about it through contacts from those around me, at which point I later verified the related posts."

He continued, "We are currently investigating the reason for the inability to access the account and how the post came to be published. Once the facts are clearly established, we will provide further updates. We kindly ask for your understanding to prevent speculation from spreading further."

Born in 1998, Kim Geon-woo first earned the South Korean national team short track jersey under his former name, Kim Han-ul, during high school. He rose to prominence as a key figure in South Korean short track by ranking first in the ISU World Cup 1500m standings and second overall during the 2018–2019 season.

In the 2023–2024 ISU World Cup season, Kim won the men's 1000m at the first event and the men's 1500m at the second and third events. He also competed as part of the mixed 2000m relay team at the 2025 Harbin Winter Asian Games, where he secured a gold medal.

Subsequently, in June, Kim announced his retirement from active competition, stating, "Short track has been my entire life since childhood, and I am now ready to step away from it."

First and foremost, I sincerely apologize for causing confusion and concern to many people due to this incident.

At the time the problematic post was published, I was unable to access my Instagram account normally. Due to the inability to log in, I was completely unaware that the post had been uploaded until I later learned about it through contacts from those around me.

The post was neither written nor published by me; it appeared on my account without my knowledge or consent. We are currently investigating why the account could not be accessed normally and how the post came to be published.

In this process, the content of the post became known before the facts were fully verified, causing worry and confusion for many people. I take this matter very seriously.

However, since we are still in the process of verifying account access and the circumstances surrounding the post's publication, I believe it is more appropriate to wait until the facts are clearly established before providing accurate information rather than making definitive statements based on unconfirmed details.

We are currently carrying out necessary verification and taking appropriate measures.

Once again, I sincerely apologize to everyone who was surprised and concerned by this incident. Additionally, we kindly ask for your understanding until the facts are fully confirmed, so that unverified information or speculation does not spread further.

Thank you.

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*This content was translated by AI.