K-actress Kim Sae Ron Booked for Suspected Drunk Driving After Crashing Her Car into a Sidewalk Planter Around 8 am
Nothing about this entertainment news story is good and it’s just leaving me shaking my head at what a bad judgment call can lead to. K-actress Kim Sae Ron was booked on May 18th by the Gangnam police for alleged drunk driving. Around 8 am, she crashed her car into a sidewalk planter area and an eyewitness called it in. She reportedly tried to hit and run and take off but she was then detained by the police and took a breathalyzer test at the scene but then went to the hospital for a blood test after she requested one (which is more accurate). Worse yet, there were reportedly 6-7 calls into 911 reporting a swerving and wobbly car driving erratically before she crashed. Dang, this is reeeeeeeaaaaaalllllly bad. She’s only 21 years old but has been acting for over 10 years since playing the child actress in critically acclaimed hit movie Ahjusshi (The Man From Nowhere). I’m glad no one was hurt in this accident and if she was drunk driving her career may never recover and if she was under the legal limit perhaps she can slowly regain her reputation back but with K-netizens this is a tough one especially since she’s barely of legal age to them to begin with and so far her agency Gold Medalist has not released a statement much less an apology. Her currently filming Netflix drama Hunting Dogs says it will be assessing the situation.
there is absolutely no excuse for drunk driving. Her career is basically over due to a dumb decision, how sad. There is also a video on youtube where you can see her drunk driving, crazy 🙁
She hit the electric transformer box causing outage to the area for a bit. She was lucky no person got hurt but it was very irresponsible. She could have gotten a chauffeur service.
This is so bizarre (even though drunk driving is hella common in South Korea) because who the hell is inebriated at 8am??? It takes some serious stupidity to
a) drink so much so early in the morning,
b) go driving like the joker afterwards in broad daylight,
c) crash into something that could’ve easily resulted in someone getting hurt,
d) try to ditch the scene,
e) request a blood test that takes two weeks to process even though a breathalyzer is fairly accurate, and
f) not apologize immediately and sincerely.
I dunno how badly the public’s gonna react since drunk driving isn’t always a career ender in the country but it certainly will hurt her a lot. And deservedly so. Never thought she was a good actor either way.
There may be more to the story. Am waiting for the juicy bits to come out like the identity of her passenger as alleged by other commenters in soompi. If she’s alone by herself getting drunk at 8am in the morning the case is very cut and dried. However the mystery passenger threw a spanner in the works.
2 week wait for dui blood test is fast. In US normal wait time is 4-6 weeks some 6 months. She could be buying time with her lawyers to see how she can get out of this.
Maybe another reason why her agency’s statement was very general with no apologies. The details of the statement will depend on the blood test results.
Accidents do happen at all hours. Andrew Symonds an acclaimed Aussie ex cricket player rolled his car at night and died on the spot. He was only 46 and healthy by all accounts. Police haven’t revealed cause of death.
That does not apply in this case in the slightest. 46 is a young but somewhat reasonable age for someone to die of natural causes – 21 is not. She is rich, famous and equipped with the staff and resources to avoid driving if she’s drunk off her ass. If for whatever reason she’s not actually drunk and she crashed because of something else, running away from the scene right after is certainly damning either way. It’s dangerous and beyond stupid and she deserves to have her career bungled because of it.
People can die naturally or suddenly at any age everyday. Over the ditch in nz today a high school student died suddenly in school. Police said death is not suspicious.
It doesn’t matter if she was drunk or not. It was a hit and run either way. There is a literal video of her ramming into the transponder and then driving away. She would have done the same if it was a person. Her first instinct was to run. Secondly blood test might be more accurate but she only did it to buy time. It’s what all alcoholics who habitually drive under the influence do. In the meantime the public anger will calm down and her agency can conveniently manipulate the result. Trying to defend her at this point is silly and illogical. She damaged public property, caused a literal power outage and who knows what consequences that had in the lives of real people and worst she didn’t even bother to apologize for any of it. She should be canceled permanently but Gold Medalist will easily buy her way back in. That agency is super shady as well. There’s a reason why her career is a complete flop and her character shows clearly in her actions.
She literally hit and ran away. There’s no freakin excuse for that. No allegedly in that.
There were some who stated that she really hit and run coz police caught up with her 30 minutes after hitting the transformer. And then with her refusing the breathalyzer immediately and asking for blood extraction at the hospital, girlie was smart with her post-accident decisions.
What planter nonsense? She rammed into an transponder and knocked out all the electricity in 4 blocks including traffic lights! Don’t try to sugar coat this she literally could have killed someone and not cared!
Right .. the headline so misleading…there a huge different between a planters and transformer .. how many life got disrupted during the outage …and a it’s a hit and run too no less wth ….geesh drunken idiot …
She needs to be eternally grateful that she did not hit someone and the transformer did not explode. Nevermind her career, who knows how many lives she could have ended!
Yeah this was in the Gangnam district and a busy street at that. So many could have gotten hurt. SMH
How Gold Medalist handles their artists’ scandals is mind boggling. The girl caused public endangerment, damaged public property, and disrupted the traffic and electricity nearby. And yet the first statement they put out isn’t even remotely apologetic.
She is a whole bird for driving while this drunk. She would’ve killed or maimed someone if it weren’t so early.
How you be this drunk at 8 am???
Just saw the CCTV and dashcam footage in the Korean news. She’s darn lucky she didn’t crash into a pedestrian or another vehicle. Still, some residents and local businesses were affected by the power outage caused by her irresponsibility so it’s really disappointing.
I wonder what happened to her that she got herself into this mess. Is she going through something personally or professionally?
Also, I don’t understand why it would take 2 weeks, in a technologically advanced country like South Korea, for her blood alcohol test results to come out. Can someone enlighten me about this?
apparently other countries like the usa take like 4-6 weeks to get results so 2 weeks is pretty advanced in that case. and tbh i couldn’t care less what her personal or professional circumstances were, the minute you step into a car drunk, you’ve committed attempted murder. and she tried to drive off right after and more than likely chose the blood test route because it gives her more time to get her lawyers and defence together so yeah. she deserves every last bit of backlash and more.
Thank you. Such illegal action shouldn’t be condoned indeed especially when it triggers other people who’ve unfortunately experienced losing someone because of incidents like this. But in reality, this may not be a career-ender for her knowing her agency.
What a dumb decision she did, I have been hearing news again and again about those accidents causing injury and death to those innocent. I am flaberghasted as to why some people are that stupid to understand not to drink and drive. Gold Medallist also seems to be a bad agency and comes with PR problems.
Allegedly there was a passenger in the car so we’ll see if someone else ends up in this mess. Where I live passengers are not held responsible but apparently in Korea you can be held as an accessory.
I’m glad no one was hurt. She’s definitely hoping her blood alcohol content skirts the legal limit. Young and dumb but she was aware enough to request that test.
Maybe career not totally over but years to recover.
I don’t understand this, in my country if you hit something (not someone) and you’re not hurt, you just continue with your day like nothing happened, like what should you do? Wait for police to come get you? Report to the police? (Why?) And in this context there’s no drunk driving involved, alcohol and night entertainment are almost illegal. So her behaviour (without drunk) is normal in my country, you hit something, no one get hurt, I don’t get hurt, my car is half-ruined, contact insurance (if you have one, mostly no), or go to repair shop. Like no one will blink their eyes if you leave.
Do you have electricity in your country? She knocked it off including traffic lights for few hours!! How can she get away from such action?
Excuse moi?
What country do you live in where it’s fine to hit-and-bounce?
In my country, someone who hits public property will get fined. Anyone who causes an accident through what looks like drunk driving will get looked down upon and scolded. Why would you drive without being sober?…There are so many accidents and deaths caused by drunk driving so this is a serious matter. She’s a celebrity too so her privacy will get aired to the whole world. The main issue and concern is that she could have hurt or killed someone, but thankfully, she didn’t.
Better idea to question why your own country works that way and rather or not its ethical your laws work the way they do? She was drunk driving and should be held responsible for her actions. She was very lucky she didn’t kill anyone BUT that’s no excuse. She was dangerous to the public.
So it will only be booked as DUI if someone is dead or injured?
Please tell me what country you live in so that I can avoid traveling there, since there would be 90% chance someone can get hit by a DUI driver, since DUI is not a crime or offense.
Don’t care if her career is ruined (as it should be).
lucky enough no one gets hurt from her reckless behavior. Drunk driving equals to attempted murder… no need to sugar coat what she did.
hmm funny you sound more forgiving and easygoing on her than two adults who made a mutual decision lol bias is no excuse for drunk driving.
Some soompi commenters said there was a passenger with her. If that’s true then the identity of the alleged passenger who didn’t stop her from drink driving could make the incident much more serious. The 2 week wait period for blood test result to come out while police are not charging her now could be due to lack of strong evidence of drunk driving. The erratic driving could be caused by other reasons such as fighting btwn KSR and her passenger. She could have wanted to conceal the identity of her companion hence fleeing the incident after hitting the transformer, alcohol consumed earlier or medical events e.g brain clot or aneurysm which can cause sudden paralysis of parts of your body, disorientation, confusion and slurred speech hence allegations of her who couldn’t speak coherently at the police station. I was just thinking of Hailey Bieber who suddenly froze while having breakfast. After lots of tests, doctors told her she suffered a very small brain clot which caused lack of oxygen. At this point it’s all speculations.
She put out a statement admitting she was driving while intoxicated.
Give the fanfiction a rest.
Nobody elected you the comment police manager. You’re embarrassing yourself by not understanding the words gossip and speculations. Obviously you’re triggered by something. Just cuz she apologised doesn’t mean there ain’t no passenger.
@gossip girl – your own words “the erratic driving could have been caused by fighting between KSR and her passenger” “medical events eg brain clot or aneurysm” “at this point it’s all speculations” (which I take to mean the drunk driving)
are you completely lacking in reading comprehension, I said nothing at all about her passenger/whether she had one or not.
Your fanfiction oops I mean “speculations” finding multiple possible excuses for the dangerous driving of a self admitted drunk driver is the real embarrassment here considering she was caught on video doing the hit and run.
Just when she’s doing a project for Netflix. This had to happen. I think she will be dropped from all three of her projects.
I wonder why she was in that state at 8 am.
If the filming for the Netflix drama is nearing completion I wonder if they will start re filming? Either way she did wrong drinking and driving and destroying public property so will need the arm of the law to dictate her charge and sentence. As for Goldmedalist agency they are very stoic and delayed with their press releases so the apology from her will follow most likely when the Police issue their statement. I like Saeron from her previous works and can say I am very disappointed and upset with what has happened but I hope she gets the support from family and friends to see this through.
But if this is a Netflix original series (and no local broadcasting channel), Netflix might just go ahead with her in it. They might delay it, which is the typical case for Netflix original series.
I reckon Netflix will just continue if it’s just for international release. If it was for general Korean release definitely there would be a need to re-film ‘Hunting Dogs’. A longer wait to see Woo Do Hwan. There is the SBS Trolley drama that she has been cast in as well so she may be released from that production. Who knows? Anyway I still like and will support her from my immense like of Heaven’s Garden and Snowy River. If you err and apologise and learn from your mistakes then by all means you deserve to return.
She’s lucky no one got hurt or died when the incident happen. IDK what is going on in her life personally but how the heck is she getting drunk at 8am in the morning ? Also, why is Gold Medalist’s PR team so bad at handling their artists controversies, from SYJ’s scandal & now Kim Sae ron. This whole agency entirely just feels so sus & shady.
Her sunbae showed great anti social behaviour bullying kjh blocking neighbour carpark …..so hoobae thought she can do anything…….
@Eve’s Scandal -So you really want to go there changing your user name 24/7 because you’re so obsessed with the sunbae. KSR did wrong, apologised and left her SBS drama. She has been an actress since 9 years old so is well aware of the expectations and pressure of the K-ent industry. The entire article and posts were about that until your OCD self turned up to remind everyone of the sunbae. It’s okay to not be okay ES.
KSR debuted in 2009, while SYJ debuted in 2013. So technically, the sunbae is KSR.
Technically true. KSR may be the one showing a bad example to her older aged hoobae. Lol.
I just read a news that the passenger was a male celebrity. DK who tho?
Someone said it’s a non celeb and female. Goodness the story changes fast! Which goes to show you don’t trust anything you read until it’s verified by the police?
Apology from her agency has been issued and Sae Ron has left the SBS drama Trolley. Now a year or two spent reflecting.
They could be dating secretly on her rest days from filming. Fleeing from dispatch paparazzi tailing them? Maybe the drink driving is a cover up to save his career. Blood test request to buy time so both their agencies and lawyers have more time to build their narrative and save his career if he’s the bigger celeb. Maybe they fought in the car. The male identity is the biggest mystery. If his face is revealed then his career is in the poop as well.
The male celeb could be the real driver hitting the transformer. After fleeing they could have swap seats to make it appear she was the driver. She might have a lower alcohol limit than him. Not surprised if they rang their handlers after the accident asking what should they do? Police only managed to apprehend her after 30 minutes. Idk the whole thing sounds very sus and shady to me.
If that’s the case then thar male celebrity must be really popular for her to take the fall to protect him. How powerful he must be for her to risk her name, reputation and job on Netflix and SBS to protect him.
K-celebs drinking all day normal. Check out KSY in a variety show all hungover. Lol. Netizens guessing male celeb early 20s idol. All hell break lose once he’s known.
Shady Gold medalist and their nutcase talents.
Probably spent whole night drinking to entertain others as she had to in her position. Probably not a drunkard as in alcoholic. No one died. So that’s good. She tried to run. That’s bad. She has assistants? No one could drive her home? That’s not good. Videos of her erratic driving? That’s not good either. But an apology, self imposed exile for some time, fair sentencing aka admission of her guilt, she will make a come back in maybe 2 years.
I have no mercy, empathy nor tolerance for a DUI case. My beloved friend died because of this. I hate those irresponsible people to my gut and sorry, I hope her career is over. There is NO excuse for this behavior. If you are drunk, call taxi, have your friend drop you off.
But driving while your cognitive is cloud with alcohol is a absolute a NO
I feel most sorry for SIA who just signed with shady GM. It must be cursed esp their female artists. Get out while you can, SIA.