On September 23, 2026, South Korean media outlet Kookmin Ilbo reported that Kim Gun-woo (Kim Geon-woo), a former short track speed skater for the Korean national team, clarified that reports of his death were not true.

According to the article, on the morning of the 23rd, numerous reports with similar content were made after an obituary, appearing to be created by his family, was posted on Kim Gun-woo's Instagram account.

In response, Kim Gun-woo posted on his Instagram account on the 23rd, saying, "First, I sincerely apologize for causing confusion and concern to many people regarding this matter." He revealed that at the time the obituary was posted, he was unable to log into his account normally and was not even aware that the post had been made. He later explained that he received messages from people around him and belatedly confirmed that the problematic post had been published.

He then stated, "The post in question was not something I created or published directly, but was posted on my account without my knowledge or consent," and added, "Currently, I am investigating the cause of the abnormal access to my account and how that post came to be published."

He also said, "I take seriously the fact that the content of the post became known before the facts were fully confirmed during this process, causing concern and confusion to many people," and "As I am still confirming the exact access status to my account and the circumstances of the post, I decided that it is correct to inform you of the accurate details once the facts are clearly understood, rather than making definitive statements about unconfirmed information." He added that he is currently proceeding with necessary checks and measures.

Furthermore, he stated, "I would like to sincerely apologize once again to everyone who was surprised and concerned by this incident," and appealed for "your generous understanding, so that unconfirmed information and speculation do not spread or get reproduced until the exact facts are confirmed."

South Korean media outlet Sports Seoul also stated regarding the obituary, "As a result of our coverage, we confirmed that the news of Kim Gun-woo's death is not true."

Kim Gun-woo was selected for the South Korean national short track team in 2015 while still a high school student. In the 2023-24 season, he won gold medals in individual events for three consecutive tournaments at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup. In the 2025 Harbin Winter Asian Games, he won a gold medal in the mixed 2000m relay. He announced his retirement from active competition in June this year.

Regarding this, South Korean netizens expressed comments such as, "Glad to know he's safe," "It's too scary for a person's death notice to be posted on SNS without their consent," "How can someone lie about life and death?" "It must have been a hacking incident," "I hope the culprit is thoroughly investigated and punished," "What did the person who posted the death rumor want to achieve by doing this?" "It became an established fact because articles appeared not only on SNS but also in various media outlets," and "Media that published the erroneous report should apologize and publish an interview with him." (Translation/Editing: Higuchi)