Kim Soo-hyun Returns to Korean Stage 18 Months After Allegations Cleared

Kim Soo-hyun is back on home soil tonight, and the country is watching. The actor appears as a presenter at the 2026 The Fact Music Awards (TMA) at Busan Asiad Main Stadium, his first official domestic appearance since a March 2025 press conference that preceded a full shutdown of all activities.

The 18-month absence traces back to rumors connecting him to the late actress Kim Sae-ron, with a YouTube channel called Garosero Research Institute spreading claims that the two had dated when she was a minor. Kim Soo-hyun's team denied the allegations immediately and pursued legal action. The channel's operator, Kim Se-eui, was arrested, indicted, and imprisoned on defamation charges. In July, police formally closed the case against the actor with a finding of no suspicion, removing the last legal cloud over his name.

The quiet rebuild before tonight

His reemergence has been deliberate. Before stepping back in front of a Korean audience, Kim Soo-hyun tested the waters abroad: last month he appeared as a surprise special guest on Mahakara RCTI 37, a prime-time broadcast special marking Indonesian network RCTI's 37th anniversary, performing and sitting for a live interview. Overseas brand promotions filled in around that. The domestic return was always going to come last.

Tonight is that moment. The TMA stage is a soft landing as comebacks go: a presenter slot carries fewer expectations than a scheduled interview or a full press junket, but it puts him in front of cameras and a live crowd in Korea for the first time since the scandal broke.

What comes next

The schedule doesn't stop in Busan. Kim Soo-hyun has already confirmed a slot at the Asia Artist Awards (AAA 2026) in Kaohsiung, Taiwan on December 5 and 6, suggesting his team is moving with some confidence now.

For anyone who needs the résumé: Kim Soo-hyun debuted in the 2007 sitcom Kimchi Cheese Smile and built one of the most durable Hallyu careers in the industry through Dream High, The Moon That Embraces the Sun, My Love from the Star, and Queen of Tears. The question hanging over tonight's appearance isn't whether the audience remembers him. It's what he says when he finally gets the microphone.