BTS and other top K-pop stars’ safety has been jeopardised yet again, as a Hong Kong airline employee was caught leaking confidential details of their air travel and reservations.
On February 24, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s cybercrime unit revealed that a 30-year-old woman working for a Hong Kong airline was under investigation for allegedly illegally accessing hundreds of flight details from 2023 to 2024. Per AllKpop’s report, the suspected lady could easily access internal booking systems owing to her career status.
International airline staff illegally profiting off K-pop stars' flight info
She is believed to have used airline software to look up celebrity names and birthdates. Thus, obtaining private flight information, including seat numbers, she reportedly admitted to initially sharing the details with her acquaintances.
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However, she stooped to a new low after that, as she started selling the information to exact profit out of the illegal scheme endangering BTS members and other leading celebrities’ safety. She purportedly decided on higher prices depending on the stars’ popularity. Authorities estimated that she sold over 1,000 sets of data, which helped her earn profits marked over 10 million KRW ($7,000 USD).
As officials probe further into the case, they’re also considering the possibility of other individuals linked to the scheme of illegally selling top celebrity flight data.
No end to the same nightmare for K-pop idols
The Monday report is merely a new addition to the prolonged, ongoing saga of K-pop stars’ compromised privacy. Less than a year ago, BTS’ label filed complaints against suspects leaking artists’ flight ticket info.
“Hello, this is HYBE. We would like to inform you of the legal measures taken against those who illegally obtained and sold flight ticket information of HYBE LABELS artists, following several months of close cooperation with investigative authorities since the second half of last year,” read the agency’s official statement. The people linked to the past reports were also “accused of profiting tens of millions to hundreds of millions of won from selling artists’ flight ticket info.”
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Obsessive fans / sasaeng fans continue tormenting K-pop idols
Boy group ENHYPEN also shares the same HYBE banner as BTS under the agency’s multi-label system. The up-and-coming septet also fell victim to obsessive stalkers / sasaeng fans who illegally accessed the band’s flight details and chose seats close to the artists while disabling the option to switch seats. The airline eventually confirmed at the time that the invasive perpetrators had used ENHYPEN’s personal info to create a membership.
Late last year, an intruder attacked Sunwoo, a member of the K-pop group THE BOYZ at his own residence. In other cases, invasive K-pop fans have also mentally harassed idols, as was previously seen in NCT's Renjun case.
Despite the companies claiming to adopt a “zero-tolerance” stance against such cases, sasaeng fans have only continued to plague the South Korean entertainment landscape.