Actor Kim Se-jeong buys home but denies W3b penthouse report

Actor Kim Se-jeong, 29, has purchased a home of her own, following an earlier gift of a house to her mother.

BH Entertainment, Kim's agency, confirmed Wednesday that she had bought a property.

However, the agency denied reports that she had purchased a penthouse in the 3 billion won ($2.01 million) range, adding that it could not confirm details such as the purchase price, as those were "the actor's private matters."

A media outlet reported Wednesday that Kim had bought a penthouse in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, in the 3 billion won range.

Kim had a difficult childhood. On a television program, she once said that when her family first moved to Seoul, she, her mother and her older brother all lived together in a relative's home of about 40 square meters. She had said she wanted to buy her mother a house once she made it, and she reportedly did just that, registering a home in her mother's name.

The word "kkotgil" — meaning a path strewn with flowers, now a widely used expression — originated from Kim's public pledge to her mother: "I'll make sure you only walk on flower paths." She later released a song titled "Kkotgil."

Kim rose to prominence after finishing second on Mnet's survival program "Produce 101" in 2016, making her debut as a member of I.O.I. She later re-debuted with the group Gugudan and made her acting debut in 2017 through the KBS2 drama series "School 2017."

Since then, she has steadily built her acting career with roles in a string of productions, including "Extraordinary Attorney Woo," "Business Proposal," "Today's Webtoon," "Intoxicating Romance" and "The Moon Flows on the River."