I need to point out the trigger warnings as the content contains matters related to suicide and alleged sexual misconduct. Someone young has also tragically taken her life, so I won’t go with the irreverent tone I’m known for.
It’s been a while since I wrote something, and I thought doing a case study would help get me back in the groove. Quite a number of people have also been requesting a case study on the fallen K-drama star, Kim Soo Hyun. I thought I’d take a short break from fatherhood and give it a go.
A Few Words Before I Begin
I’m not very good with topics revolving around sensitive issues like mental health and suicide. I will not be pretentious as well and say that I spend my days thinking about it and try to virtue signal that my job as an astrologer can ‘help’ someone overcome their mental ailments. Astrology, in itself, provides information and a structured way of looking at the world, but whether or not it can help someone with their mental ailments is practitioner-dependent, and I can say with certainty that most of us are not equipped or ready to deal with it. I wish to make it clear that I’m not equipped to deal with people with mental ailments, and I never will be.
If you’ve followed my blog long enough, you should know that I believe that we go through what we’re meant to go through. We’re all wired differently; our charts reflect our karma and what we’re meant to experience in this lifetime. I don’t have an explanation for why some people are just born to suffer more or have a more difficult time. Call it karma or God’s plan – whatever comforts you.
I don’t think any astrologer celebrates that life and reality can be harsh, but it is what it is. The only comfort and perhaps empathy (which people like to accuse me of lacking) I can give is that my close friends and I have been to some pretty dark places ourselves during our younger days. We were lucky that we moved past that dark period with the help of the good people we met along the way.
I no longer want this post to touch on my background because there’s enough of it. I’m a father now, and I’m focusing on that only. All I’ll say is this: If you are reading this and you are suffering from depression or any form of mental illness, please get help and hang in there. My only humble request is that you don’t spread the suffering, and as much as mental illness is not your fault, it’s still your responsibility because no one can deal with it for you other than yourself.
Now, to the crux of the post.
Revisiting Some Old Themes First
If you’ve been following my blog for a while now and are familiar with some of the themes I’ve discussed, you would have heard me say that it’s always important to ask yourself what the definition of a “good life” is.
A simple textbook answer would be Aristotle’s, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Some other philosophers, like John Stuart Mill, made us think about higher pleasures vs. lower pleasures and posited that we, as humans, ought to be able to experience higher pleasures that separate us from those of animals and that we do this by exercising our higher faculties.
The point is this: Figure it out for yourself. I’m not saying you must live like an aesthetic or be a wine snob to have a good life. I guess a better way of putting it is that we must try not to be driven simply by pleasure, although pleasure, most certainly, always tends to feel nice.
I’m touching on this topic again briefly because I want to dispel the notion that a good life is determined solely by our career, wealth, and status. Of course, these are nice to have, but I’d personally feel it’s a pity that someone, especially in Singapore, thinks that a good life is determined by things that are, well, a tad shallow.
Many clients I’ve worked with always feel that their lives would improve if they had more money, which I agree with. Who wouldn’t want more money? But many also fail to ask themselves if they’ve done anything to deserve money or what they’ve given up in pursuit of it. The Instagram post above is that of a client who incessantly asked me if she would have more money when her health and marriage are falling apart. She assumes that money will make her happier, but I can assure you it will not, and neither does she deserve any life-changing wealth.
I once argued that a good life is balanced, and I still believe in that and always will.
My Only Memory Of Kim Soo Hyun
My only memory of Kim Soo Hyun was from the show “My Love From The Star”, which I believe first aired in late 2013. I watched it not because of Kim Soo Hyun, but for Jun Ji-hyun instead. That’s it.
I am by no means a K-Drama person. The only Korean content I consume is either Blackpink or the occasional Korean movie worth watching, such as Parasite. All I know about Kim Soo Hyun is that he’s a famous Korean actor, and I didn’t even know he was on Queen of Tears.
Kim Soo Hyun’s fall from grace is real-life Korean drama, and, sadly, it involved someone taking her own life. There’s no other way to describe the situation other than it being a tragedy. Two individuals could have had really good lives, but everything changed in the blink of an eye.
Kim Soo Hyun makes an interesting case study. Do we regard him as having a good life, or is he just another Category 4 chart-holder?
Let’s dive into what I believe are his charts:
Reverse-engineering his birth time took a while because I know very little about him. His chart is also not like the ones I’ve done on cult-leaders and sex offenders, where the chart just jumps out as a criminal.
Kim Soo Hyun’s BaZi and Zi Wei Dou Shu Chart
Here’s a quick breakdown of the parameters:
- Yin Metal Daymaster. At first blush, it may feel as though his Daymaster is weak because he’s born during spring when Wood is dominant. Still, given the state of things and that he moves into his 戊午 10-Year Phase where Earth shows up, we can logically deduce that his Daymaster leans towards the strong side because, clearly, 戊午 is causing a lot of problems for him, and 戊 is likely a destructive element for him.
- We also see traces of Earth around, and the 寅 Month Branch even roots his 戊辰 Year Pillar because 寅 holds 戊 Earth within it. 丑 and 巳 also support Metal’s strength.
- Charts like his have an ambiguous Daymaster strength, so checking what’s going on in real life and aligning it with the chart is essential. It also helps to understand what brings out the best in an element.
- His critical element (用神) would be Wood first, followed by Water. Destructive elements would be Earth and Metal, whereas Fire is more of a neutral element, although it leans towards the negative side.
Here’s what I’m seeing analysis-wise:
- The natal chart looks pretty good because it would mean his 甲寅 Month Pillar becomes positive as Wood is needed to remove Earth, and 甲 Wood is his Direct Wealth (正财), which governs his wealth. 甲 Wood is his chart’s strongest element, so it’s no surprise that he’s among the highest-paid actors.
- As for his Elemental Phases, he’s had three positive 10-Year Phases (大运) – 乙卯，丙辰， and 丁巳。 I know you might think, “丙辰 and 丁巳 hold Earth, so why is it positive?” That’s because “Void Emptiness” (空亡) is in the picture, and it changes the interpretation.
Everything changed when Kim Soo Hyun moved into this 2024 戊午 10-Year Phase. His negative elements are now fully in the picture, and his entire natal chart is not activated because we can find the elements represented by 戊，己， and 丁 are all in his natal chart.
A few things happen here:
- First of all, you’ll notice his Year Pillar of 戊辰 is also his Void Emptiness position, but he is in his 戊午 10-Year Phase, which effectively removes Void Emptiness. The negatives of his Year Pillar are now at play.
- 午‘s appearance causes 寅午合火， draining Wood’s efficacy while strengthening Earth’s presence. 丑午相害 also forms, which is an interaction which harms the 癸 Water in his natal chart, which is the source of Wood’s strength and also the element governing his emotional well-being and abundance. 午 Fire showing up here is also why the hell he’s going through now is reputational, because of what 午 represents. Do you know what else 午 can represent? A woman, or a celebrity, according to Chinese metaphysical theory.
Long story short, it is his first negative 10-Year Phase, and he moved into it while going through 2024 to 2027’s 甲辰，乙巳，丙午， and 丁未 years, which are all against him. I’ve mentioned a long time ago in one of my blog posts that a transition into a new 10-Year Phase will be different for everyone depending on what Annual Phase (流年运) you’re entering into it with, and in the case of Kim Soo Hyun, he transits into a negative 10-Year Phase while undergoing negative Annual Phases too which is why shit hit the fan so quickly.
I don’t think he’s going to recover from this because I am not seeing any positive 10-Year Phases left. This is where the so-called ‘good luck’ ends.
His chart is a good example of a Category 3 chart where his natal chart (命) is arguably pretty good, but his positive phases (运) don’t last that long. It was Category 1 for a while, but because his 10-Year Phases is now against him, it falls into a Category 3 chart.
Now, as for his Zi Wei Dou Shu chart:
I won’t go much into it other than to say that this is the chart that shows the most reputational damage for 2025, given that his 大运 and 流年命宫 is getting brutally clashed, and it just so happens that his 大运 + 流年命宫 are also overlapping his natal 子女宫, which is associated with Peach Blossom issues.
Kim Soo Hyun’s Western Chart
Interpreting his Western chart was a bit difficult because, as I said above, it’s not like he’s known for being a cult-leader like Jung Myeong Seok or a psychopath like Woo May Hoe.
Let’s break down what went through my mind:
I started off looking for similar signs and looked at the 5th and 8th House Rulers, as these Houses are associated with pleasure and sex, but could not find any. But then again, it’s not like Kim Soo Hyun is a sex addict or lecher, so whatever is happening now should be expressed by his chart differently. I shouldn’t assume that he’s like the sex addict cult-leader.
The above chart also stood out as having the highest chance of fame, with multiple planets in the 10th and 11th House, including Saturn being domicile in the 10th House and Sun being in the 11th while sextile with Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus.
The first interesting thing that stood out to me was the 7th House Ruler (Venus) being in his 1st House. We know that Venus started its retrograde on 1 March 2025 in Aries, so it’s no wonder its ex-lover and older issues started coming back into the picture. The scandal broke out on 10 March 2025. Venus is in detriment in Aries and squares his Medium Coeli, which would have impacted his career.
The next interesting thing, which everyone should be very familiar with by now, is that his transit-Saturn-square-natal-Saturn has started. Assuming I got his birth time accurate to 1 to 2 hours, it officially starts in May 2025, but the aspect has already started forming. Transit Saturn would be in fall in Aries – not a position it likes to be in, squaring his natal Saturn in his 10th House, which is associated with one’s career and reputation.
That said, not all Saturn square transits are as crazy as this, so we need to look deeper. There are a few factors that amplified the scale of the events:
- Saturn sextile Sun.
- Saturn trine Jupiter.
- Saturn conjuncts Mars and Uranus.
- Mars and Uranus (9th House) also happen to have a mutual reception with Jupiter (1st House)
But again, can the planets and their aspects alone lead to such a massive fall from grace and what seems like a karmic debt? Because it’s not like I’ve not seen such planetary aspects before, and they didn’t manifest at such a scale.
This is the first time I’m using other parts of the chart rather than the usual planets and nodes. I had an epiphany and looked into the following:
- Lilith – A mathematical point in space. It represents our unconscious, raw instincts, and parts of ourselves that we suppress or struggle to integrate.
- Juno – An asteroid used in Western astrology that reflects how we approach marriage, commitment, and what we need and gain from them.
- Vertex – A unique point found using the chart’s geometry. Also known as the kismet meeting point, marking significant turning points in one’s life and events you simply cannot avoid.
If you plot Kim Soo Hyun’s chart, you will notice the following:
- Lilith is in his 5th House of pleasure, romance, and creative expression. Lilith is conjunct the Fixed Star Merak. A positive expression of Merak would be power and authority, whereas a negative one can mean dictatorial tendencies and deceit. His Lilith also opposes his Aquarius Stellium, consisting of Sun, Mercury, and Moon (loose opposition). Lilith opposes the Sun from its own ruling sign (Leo), and the Sun also causes Mercury to be “Under The Beams”, suggesting a tendency to put ego before rational thought.
- Juno conjuncts his Venus in his 1st House, squaring his Medium Coeli. The recent Venus retrograde likely brought the way he dealt with his relationships into the picture.
- Juno opposes his Vertex, which is in the 7th House associated with marriage and partnerships. Transit Saturn will conjunct his Venus, Juno, and oppose his Vertex simultaneously. If there’s one trait in his chart that explains the current situation, it’s this one.
- It’s also worth pointing out that Venus rules his 2nd House (Finances, Assets, Values), which is likely why Kim Soo Hyun sued Kim Sae Ron and demanded money after her DUI incident.
To summarise: His Venus retrograde and Saturn-square-Saturn event showing up simultaneously is uncanny and it’s symbolic of old issues and lovers coming back to haunt him. It’s not just a Venus retrograde for him, but also his Venus Return, and his Lilith, Juno, and Vertex are all involved. Kim Soo Hyun’s Aquarius stellium does not help because the dark side of Aquarius is cold, calculative, and even ruthless. Mind you, his Sun in Aquarius is considered debilitated. His Western chart also shows signs of being unable to recover from this incident that easily as Saturn is going to transit his personal houses (1st to 6th House), and the ruling planets of these Houses are the ones that gave him his fame.
If whatever he’s going through now isn’t written in the stars, I don’t know what is.
Kim Sae Ron’s Astrological Charts
I also looked at Kim Sae-Ron’s charts out of curiosity since she was the catalyst, but I won’t give the breakdown in this post. Not for now, at least. You only have to know that astrology is real and that whatever happened is written in the charts.
I don’t think there’s a need to dissect her chart. She’s already passed, and may she rest in peace.
One thing I wish to share, though, is that before I generated her chart, I told myself, “The synastries in the chart can’t be that obvious.” It turns out they are, and it gave me goosebumps.
They have opposing stelliums. (Note: A stellium refers to a cluster of three or more planets located within the same zodiac sign or astrological house in a birth chart.)
Assuming the reverse engineering of her birth time is correct, her Juno is in the 7th House of Aquarius, where Kim Soo Hyun has his Sun, Moon, and Mercury stellium. Kim Sae-Ron has a stellium in Leo, which opposes Kim Soo Hyun’s stellium in Aquarius. To simplify things: Aquarius and Leo ‘hates’ each other, and they both have three planets in there. Their Sun and Moon are both in opposition, and it is as though they were karmically sworn enemies from a previous life. In case you missed it, Kim Soo Hyun’s Lilith is also in Kim Sae-Ron’s stellium.
The most heart-wrenching thing, to me, is this.
Kim Sae Ron has a Pluto conjunct Chiron in her 4th House, while Pluto opposes the Ruler of her 4th House (Jupiter), associated with family, roots, and sense of belonging. Looking at her Western chart and the Year Pillar of her BaZi chart, I think Kim Sae-Ron didn’t even have a family and a safe space to fall back on. I know what you’re thinking: “If she didn’t have family to fall back on, then why is the family fighting for her now?”
Well, why do you think? Don’t be a simpleton. If she had parents who were good parents, I don’t see why her wedding in the USA needed to be secret. Imagine not feeling a sense of belonging, society shuns and tries to cancel you, and the oppa you once thought you could rely on tries to ruin you. Imagine being 25 and feeling the sense of desolation she must have felt.
Kim Soo Hyun had a much stronger chart. He could have treated Kim Sae Ron very differently, which was well within his abilities. But he didn’t. This was the part I didn’t understand.
My Thoughts On This Whole Debacle
If I may be honest with my thoughts, I don’t really have a view on this whole issue per se, as I don’t wish to jump to conclusions just because I’m using astrology. I’m coming more from the perspective of a detached observer. My life will never be intertwined with Korean celebrities, and our lives don’t affect each other.
Putting both charts together, it’s easy to tell that they had an unfortunate karmic affinity and bond with each other.
Suppose I had to make a character judgment on Kim Soo Hyun, given what I’m seeing in his chart with his Lilith and Sun placements: I won’t be surprised if he did date Kim Sae Ron when she was underage because he’s fully capable of putting pleasure before principle. 2015 also happened to be the year when Jupiter was in Leo, Kim Soo Hyun’s 5th House of Romance and Jupiter conjuncts with his Lilith, so the timelines do check out.
But I will give a balanced perspective and say that his chart does not strike me as that of a sexual predator going out of his way to take advantage of others, and I believe no one else has stepped up to accuse him of preying on them. I don’t know how else to put this, but to say this situation is one of those deeply entrenched karmic debt situations that Kim Soo Hyun severely mishandled.
Buddhists always say things will happen when karma ripens and the cause-and-effect chain is complete. One thing led to another, and Kim Soo Hyun is now facing Saturn’s wrath and a Vertex-level event that will ruin him forever.
I find it extremely sad that someone so young was driven to the extent of taking her own life because society takes pleasure in cancelling others, and that someone who is supposedly one of the most well-paid actors in Korea, and his agency, can’t show some compassion towards someone so young. Part of the angst and rage that I’m always exuding online is that I know society can be really sickening at times, and the majority of people, unfortunately, are Cat. 4s who not only lament about their lives while doing nothing, but also enable cancel culture because it makes them feel better about their pathetic lives.
Imagine if you were 23 and you made a mistake, and suddenly the whole world turns on you.
There is no moral of the story here other than a practitioner’s usual axioms. Our charts reflect our karma, and astrology studies the structure and laws of how reality unfolds and manifests. Why do I keep harping about Saturn and its influence? You know why now. Saturn really does not mess around, karma is real, and it will come back to get you.
Astrology is real. Cessation of suffering is also possible. But fame and money will not get you there.
– Sean
