K-pop 'sasaeng' fan culture: terrifying stories about stalking and harassment

According to Koreaboo, BTS knelt down and begged fans not to stalk them in lieu of their military enlistment, which is not surprising given the numerous media outlets that have covered incidents of K-pop fans criminally invading their private lives.
This phenomenon has been labelled 'sasaeng' - after a Korean term referring to 'private life'.

Content warning: This post contains references to self-harm.

As Yahoo reported, some K-pop idols are actively being followed by an average of 100 ‘sasaeng’ fans every day! Here we tell you the most shocking stories of some K-pop ‘sasaeng’ fans.

In 2006, Super Junior’s Kim Hee-chul had a car accident which, according to KpopStarz, left him with a leg injury that rendered him unable to dance on stage ever since. Koreaboo revealed more to this accident - that it was caused by ‘sasaeng’ fans who'd been tailing him! The singer had his accident while he was trying to lose the ‘sasaeng’ tail.

Koreaboo also reported that Kim Jaejoong of JYJ (and the old TVXQ) had been stalked and photographed by a ‘sasaeng’ fan while he was taking a break at the sauna. The ‘sasaeng’ fan took a quick snap of Kim Jaejoong whilst he was asleep and uploaded the photo online. In addition, she bragged about giving him an unwanted kiss while he was sleeping!

Another K-pop star who got into a car accident because of ‘sasaeng’ fans is GOT7’s Jackson. Special Broadcasting Service reports that the star was lucky to to get out of the crash with a minor injury. A ‘sasaeng’ fan had driven dangerously close to Jackson’s car while stalking him in Japan.

In 2009, Taecyeon from 2PM received a letter from a fan that made the news for all the wrong reasons. Allkpop reported that the fan in question had handwritten the letter in blood and had attached some of her privates' hair in the letter. Despite the creepy gesture, alongside a message stating that "[Taecyeon] cannot live without [her]," the fan insisted that she was not a ‘sasaeng’. Very unconvincing.

A week later, in a bizarre attempt to one-up Taecyeon’s infamous letter, a 'sasaeng' fan sent her own bloody letter to MBLAQ’s Lee Joon, as Daily Kpop News reported. The fan boasted in an online forum about her work by mocking Taecyeon’s blood fan letter. She insisted that her letter was ‘purer’ because the blood came from another part of her body than that of Taecyeon's letter.

Since BTS is one of the most famous K-pop bands in the world, it is no surprise that they have been stalked on planes by 'sasaeng' fans. 'Today' reports that ‘sasaeng’ fans managed to learn the group's whereabouts through a source that leaked their flight information.

As Soompi reports, the stalking got so bad, that BTS’s V began ranting one day during a session on V Live that all members of BTS now had to fly in private planes rather than commercial flights to avoid the ‘sasaengs’!

(Image: BTS, 2021 Grammy Awards)

Another ‘sasaeng’ fan who stalked his idol using leaked flight details was a TWICE fan from Germany. The fan had boarded the same flight as the girl group in 2019 on their way back to Seoul. He tried to get closer to his idol, Nayeon, but was stopped by TWICE security personnel. This caused a disturbance for everyone onboard the plane.

The South China Morning Post reported that Nayeon was traumatised by the incident. She even took to Instagram to plead with the German fan to stop following her. After the incident, JYP Entertainment filed a restraining order against the German fan and requested police protection for all TWICE members.

In an act of retaliation against JYP Entertainment, the German fan proceeded to leak TWICE member Chaeyoung’s personal mobile number upon the withdrawal of the restraining order filed against him, as Koreaboo reports. It is unclear how he had gotten hold of this information, but JYP Entertainment swiftly responded by taking legal action against the ‘sasaeng’ fan. The man has since fled to Germany to escape criminal charges.

(Image: from left to right, Chaeyoung, Mina and Nayeon)

In 2011, during a live performance at the Price Music Festival in Seoul, a crazed Girls’ Generation ‘sasaeng’ fan attempted to kidnap Taeyeon from the stage. The group was just singing the song 'Run Devil Run.'

The attempt was quickly thwarted by the festival’s MC Oh Jung Tae, security personnel and Girls’ Generation’s Sunny, who all swiftly went to prevent the ‘sasaeng’ fan and kidnapper from leaving the stage with Taeyeon. Strikingly, as a follow-up report by Koreaboo states, no charges were filed against the ‘sasaeng’ fan for his attempt at kidnapping his idol.

Another ‘sasaeng’ kidnapping attempt happened in 2013 and involved the K-pop boy band EXO. Koreaboo reports that the ‘sasaengs’ rented a van that looked exactly like the boy band’s official van and waited outside a building for the k-pop stars to finish up with work.

Koreaboo reported that the boy band narrowly escaped the kidnapping attempt thanks to the quick thinking of their manager. He noticed unfamiliar people sitting in the van and signalled for EXO to not board the vehicle.

Some ‘sasaeng’ fans go through extreme methods in order to get close to their idols. Koreaboo reports that some EXO fans even shaved their heads and dressed as boys so they could enter into the men’s room and meet their idols! The incident bothered the EXO members so much that they now take turns standing guard during bathroom breaks so as to avoid such incidents from happening again.

In August 2021, K-pop boy band TREASURE released a video on their official YouTube channel showing how they were being stalked by ‘sasaeng’ fans. The ‘sasaengs’ interrupted a film shoot by crowding the pier where TREASURE was at work. They also hired boats to chase the boy band once they were at sea. Allkpop reported that the stalking was so intense that TREASURE and their staff had to escape to a nearby deserted island to lose the ‘sasaeng’ fans.

(Image: YG Entertainment)

BTS' Jungkook had 'sasaeng' fans holding a stakeout in front of his flat earlier in December, according to Allkpop. While it is understandable that fans would want to see their idol one last time before they enlist in the military, the fact that they have managed to host a stakeout in front of the star's private home is undeniably intrusive.

Image: Big Hit