[Yonhap]
[Yonhap]

Actor Kim Soo-hyun, who had suspended activities amid allegations related to the late Kim Sae-ron, has resumed his public schedule with an overseas fan meeting following a return to commercial shoots.

Philippine fashion brand Bench announced Tuesday that Kim will hold a fan meeting in the Philippines on Oct. 2.

The event will take place at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, with an audience of 20,000.

Kim, who serves as a brand model for Bench, shared a video update through the brand's social media account on Sunday.

"I really missed you all so much. I'm happy to be greeting you again after such a long time," he said with a bright smile, adding, "Please look forward to it."

The controversy surrounding Kim's personal life erupted after the YouTube channel "Garosero Research Institute" posted a video in March last year citing a phone call with the late Kim Sae-ron's family.

At a press conference at the time, the channel's representative and attorney Boo Ji-seok released an audio recording, claiming it was "an actual conversation between the deceased and an acquaintance in New Jersey (identity unknown)." They alleged the first sexual encounter had occurred when Kim Sae-ron was 14 years old.

Kim Soo-hyun's side rebuffed the allegations in full, saying the audio file had been fabricated using AI, and said the two had dated when Kim Sae-ron was an adult.

The Seoul Seongdong Police Station, which investigated the case, recently declined to refer the case to prosecutors, citing insufficient evidence — effectively clearing Kim of the charges.

Kim Sae-ron's family filed a complaint with police in May of that year accusing Kim Soo-hyun of violating the Child Welfare Act and other charges, but police recently cleared him and declined to refer the case to prosecutors.

The channel representative has been indicted and is standing trial in custody on charges including defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection.


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