In South Korea, Kim Sae-ron’s death exposes depth of gender bias faced by female stars

The news of actress Kim Sae-ron’s untimely death broke on Sunday evening, shocking those who remember her impactful performance as So-mi in the 2010 film The Man from Nowhere when she was only 10 years old.

Kim once seemed destined to grow from a successful child actor to a mature artist, but her life took an unexpected turn in 2022 when she was involved in an accident while driving under the influence of alcohol. The incident drew intense public scrutiny as she hit an electric transformer, causing a power outage that affected the neighbourhood.

Although Kim issued a handwritten apology the next day, many criticised her for allegedly fleeing the scene without taking immediate action and for the damage incurred. Following the accident, she lost out on many roles, including some already filmed. Most of her scenes in Netflix’s Bloodhounds were edited out and she was dropped from the series Trolley.

Only after her death did it become widely known that she had visited each of the 57 nearby businesses affected by the outage to personally apologise and offer compensation. Despite these efforts, public opinion remained harsh.

In South Korea, celebrities who commit misconduct such as DUI typically take time away from the spotlight for self-reflection before attempting a comeback – if they can. But the judgment directed at Kim appeared far more unforgiving.

With some 3.7 million followers on Instagram, Kim often faced hostile comments, accusing her of being “unreflective” or “immodest”. Any social media updates from Kim seemed to spark negative attention.

  

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