Korean actress Kim Sae-ron steps down from TV role after DUI investigation and is ‘deeply reflecting on her wrongdoing’
- Kim, who apologised for the May 18 drink-driving incident through her agency, will no longer appear in the SBS television drama Trolley
- The incident saw an electrical transformer box destroyed, leading to power outages affecting traffic lights and payment processing systems
Korean actress Kim Sae-ron has stepped down from her role in the upcoming SBS television drama Trolley following a police investigation into a drink-driving incident, which happened on the morning of May 18.
The actress is under investigation for driving under the influence of alcohol after she collided with a roadside electrical transformer box in Cheongdam-dong, in Seoul’s Gangnam district.
According to Korean pop culture website Soompi, Kim’s blood alcohol content was measured at the scene of the incident, but she also took a blood test at a hospital at her request. However, according to Allkpop, which focuses on K-pop news, Kim refused to take a breathalyser test and was taken to the hospital afterwards.
According to investigation reports, the electrical transformer box was uprooted from its original position and its protective enclosure destroyed. The incident caused several power outages in the area, including for traffic lights and payment processing systems, which affected local businesses that morning. Repairs took around five hours to complete.
Since the incident, Kim’s management agency Goldmedalist has apologised on her behalf.
“We sincerely apologise for causing concern with the accident that occurred through our agency’s actress Kim Sae-ron’s drunk driving,” it said.
“Kim Sae-ron is deeply reflecting on her wrongdoing. Furthermore, Kim Sae-ron sincerely conveys her apology to the many people who were harmed and inconvenienced through this as well as all the people who are working hard to repair the damaged public structures. She has promised to do her best to restore the damage.”
The actress was sent home after her blood test and pledged to cooperate fully in the police investigation, her agency said.
Social media users made fun of the incident, joking that she would be saved from the police like her character was in the 2010 film The Man from Nowhere. Other users pointed out similarities between Kim’s incident and singer-actress Park Soo-ah’s DUI incident last year, as the two celebrities were caught drunk driving on the same day (May 18) in the same area (Gangnam), and they also share the same birthday.
Besides Kim pulling out of Trolley, her role in the upcoming Netflix series Hunting Dogs is in question. The actress previously starred in the TV series Secret Healer and The Great Shaman Ga Doo-shim.
