Korean celebrities and their stalkers: when fans of K-pop groups like Twice and Exo go too far in their idol obsession
- Obsessive fans will buy tickets for the same flights as their idols to take photos, then ask to be let off the plane
- New measures are being put into place to deter them from doing this, including high last-minute cancellation fees
By Kim Hyun-bin
Stalkers and obsessive fans of K-pop idols are a major problem for the entertainment industry, and this is spilling over into public spaces, especially in the confines of aeroplanes after some board the same planes as their favourite celebrities.
JYP Entertainment said on its website that it would pursue legal action against the man.
“On board a flight from Japan to Korea today, a stalker followed Nayeon on the flight and continued to approach her, causing a ruckus in the cabin,” JYP said in a statement on Wednesday. “There was no direct harm done to the artist, but she feels anxious and uncomfortable about the incident.”
According to the company, Nayeon is under police protection. “Together with the police, the company has warned the stalker multiple times against approaching her, but he has ignored the warnings and nearly clashed with company employees. Despite the warnings, the man has continued the problematic acts without any self-reflection.”
Regarding the man, JYP said it would immediately take all possible legal action. “We are also looking into the situation that artists’ flight schedules are made public and even sold illegally. Starting with this case, we will develop countermeasures,” it said.
Following the increasing popularity of K-pop, there have been scores of similar cases of obsessive fans trying to approach celebrities in recent years, and aeroplanes have been a perfect place for such fans because the stars have nowhere to escape to.
As the fans paid only a 50,000 won (US$43) penalty and another 50,000 won in cancellation fees, the incident prompted the airline to make changes to its last-minute cancellation policy – charging an additional 200,000 won penalty for last-minute cancellations starting January 2019, a measure which was adopted quickly by Asiana Airlines as well.
The airlines say the strengthened last-minute cancellations penalty has been effective.
“After the changes, there have been fewer fans boarding planes and making last-minute cancellations. We believe the increased penalty had some impact on this reduction,” a Korean Air official said.
