"The late Kim Sae-ron's voice was not AI-manipulated," says emotionally charged Kim Se-dae, who reasserts his innocence [Star On-Site]

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Kim Se-dae, the representative of Garosero Research Institute, who is on trial for defamation charges related to actor Kim Soo-hyun, once again asserted his innocence in an emotionally charged manner.

At 2 p.m. on the 11th, Criminal Division 26 (Presiding Judge Lee Hyun-kyung) of the Seoul Central District Court conducted a hearing for Kim Se-dae, who was indicted while in custody on charges including violation of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc. (defamation).

On that day, Kim Soo-hyun arrived at the court privately around 1:40 p.m. to be examined as a witness. Numerous reporters were waiting on-site to capture sight of Kim Soo-hyun. However, Kim Soo-hyun headed to the courtroom via a separate route rather than the main entrance.

Prior to the witness examination of Kim Soo-hyun, Representative Kim Se-dae asserted his innocence. Kim's defense attorney stated, "We deny all facts alleged in the indictment. The specific facts are not false. (Kim Soo-hyun) dated a minor," and requested an acquittal.

Kim Se-dae also directly appealed to the court about his grievance. He said, "On October 15 last year, we submitted an analysis report by a professor at the Korea University Forensic Center stating that the voice of the late actress Kim Sae-ron was not AI-generated manipulation," and added, "Since I am from a humanities background rather than science and engineering, I did not properly review the difficult terminology in the report and focused only on the conclusion that there was no manipulation or editing."

He then mentioned the creation time of the audio file noted in the report. Kim Se-dae stated, "The creation time of the audio file is clearly listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). At that time, actress Kim Sae-ron was alive and residing in New Jersey, USA," and argued, "I aired a broadcast exposing issues related to Kim Soo-hyun on March 10, 2025. It is impossible that the voice was manipulated by AI two months before the exposé broadcast and one month before actress Kim Sae-ron passed away."

Additionally, Kim Se-dae pointed out that the charges listed in the arrest warrant differed from those in the indictment. He said, "The arrest warrant included content about AI-generated manipulation and conspiring with bereaved family members to falsely defame Kim Soo-hyun while knowing it was false, but in the actual indictment, the AI-generated manipulation content was omitted and it was changed to the effect that he broadcast based solely on one-sided claims from the bereaved family."

He further appealed, "In a state of detention, I cannot search for materials or conduct investigations, so I have no choice but to receive an unfair trial," and stated, "I was detained, branded as a criminal, and turned into a devil."

The court also intervened to restrain Kim Se-dae, whose emotions had become heightened while speaking. The court requested Kim Se-dae, whose voice had risen, to "please speak calmly without shouting," to which Kim Se-dae replied, "It will be over soon. Please do not cut me off," and continued his statement.

Meanwhile, Representative Kim Se-dae has continuously raised claims since March last year through YouTube broadcasts and other media that Kim Soo-hyun dated the late (deceased) Kim Sae-ron when she was a minor, and that he bears responsibility for the deceased's death. He also held a press conference on behalf of the bereaved family and released materials claiming to be recordings of the late Kim Sae-ron's voice and KakaoTalk conversations with Kim Soo-hyun.

However, investigative authorities determined that the voice recording file released by Kim Se-dae was a manipulated file generated by generative artificial intelligence (AI), and that the content of the KakaoTalk conversations between Kim Soo-hyun and the late Kim Sae-ron was also manipulated. Representative Kim Se-dae was detained in May last year on charges of spreading false information about Kim Soo-hyun.

Kim Soo-hyun has also filed an application for a preliminary injunction to delete and prohibit the posting of YouTube videos against Kim Se-dae.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original