Kim Soo-hyun’s side has escalated its fight against YouTube channel Garo Sero Research Institute (Gaseyeon), formally asking YouTube to shut down the channel altogether, according to a JoongAng Ilbo report cited by Sports Chosun on October 20.
The request was submitted to YouTube on October 6, on the grounds that Gaseyeon violated the platform’s policies against harassment and cyberbullying. It follows a separate request made on October 3 to delete 30 videos about Kim Soo-hyun posted on the channel. The videos are reportedly still public.
Kim Soo-hyun’s legal representatives stressed the channel must be closed swiftly to end secondary harm, saying: “Gaseyeon’s defamation and threats against the actor, based on false evidence including AI-manipulated audio, have been confirmed through investigation.” They warned that as long as the content keeps circulating, the damage will keep repeating.
Gaseyeon head Kim Se-ui claimed in his YouTube broadcasts that Kim Soo-hyun dated the late Kim Sae-ron while she was a minor and drove her to her death by pressuring her over debt. Prosecutors indicted him in custody in June, determining he had spread false claims to defame the actor.
Separately from the criminal proceedings, Kim Soo-hyun’s side applied to a court on September 22 for an order to delete the videos and ban their publication, with a hearing set for November 4.
No official statement was available from YouTube. Until the court rules, the videos may remain exposed online, which Kim’s side says risks further defamation and secondary harm.
The spotlight is now on whether YouTube will act on the shutdown request beyond the individual video removals, and how the platform judges the alleged policy violations.
