[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] Following the ongoing personal controversy surrounding actor Kim Soo-hyun, various retail companies have begun to sever ties with him.
Beauty brand Dinto announced on Saturday via its official Instagram that it had decided to terminate its advertising contract with Kim Soo-hyun. The company explained, “In light of the recent controversy, we believe it is in line with the principle of good faith in maintaining relationships and contracts,” adding that this decision was made after a period of consideration. This comes just five days after Dinto’s representative initially stated, "We will wait and see for now," on March 10. The contract was set to run until August.
Dinto also clarified, stating that they could not immediately issue an official statement or terminate the contract until the agency provided a response. “After reviewing the agency's stance, we determined that there are significant reasons making it impossible to continue the advertising contract, and the procedure for officially terminating the contract through our lawyer is underway,” the company said. They also emphasized that they made the decision to preserve the brand’s values and consumer trust, vowing to make more responsible decisions in future projects.
Italian luxury brand Prada also recently ended its ambassador contract with Kim Soo-hyun, citing the seriousness of the issue. Additionally, CJ Foodville, which operates Tous Les Jours, decided to end its advertising contract with Kim Soo-hyun, which was due to expire this month. CJ Foodville had re-signed Kim as the brand’s model in September 2022, after a 9-year hiatus. Kim’s posts have since been removed from the brand’s official social media accounts.
K2 Korea has also removed all photos of Kim Soo-hyun from its K-Village website and official Instagram. Other brands that Kim is associated with, such as Eider, Shabolday, and Homeplus, have refrained from showing Kim's images on their respective websites.
LG Household & Health Care removed a cosmetic ad video featuring Kim Soo-hyun, which was posted over 10 years ago. Kim had been a model for the beauty brand Beyond from 2012 to 2015, and the video was made private on LG’s official YouTube channel on March 12.
Kim Soo-hyun has been embroiled in allegations regarding his relationship with the late Kim Sae-ron while she was a minor and accusations of pressuring her for a ₩700 million penalty payment. Kim’s agency, Gold Medalist, responded on March 14, claiming that the two had been in a relationship for about a year after Kim Sae-ron became an adult. However, Kim Sae-ron's family publicly denied this statement on March 15, demanding Kim Soo-hyun acknowledge the facts and apologize.
AlphaBIZ Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
