BTS Jin & Byun Woo-seok Suffer Damage Due To Fans Who Crossed The Line

Jin, the eldest member of BTS, enlisted on December 13th, 2022, and was discharged on June 12th after serving faithfully for one year and six months. Immediately after his discharge, Jin attended BTS’s debut anniversary event ‘2024 FESTA’ as his first official schedule. In order to celebrate his return and greet fans, Jin suggested a free hug event but Big Hit Music reportedly refused it. 

After twists and turns, Jin finally met fans for the first time at ‘2024 FESTA’ held in Songpa-gu, Seoul on June 13th. Jin appeared on the stage wearing a sign with the message ‘Please hug me’ in front of his chest. Later, he hugged 1000 lucky fans to deliver his greeting after his discharge. 

However, an uncomfortable scene was spotted at the event. Some fans tried to make close physical contact with Jin and went as far as kissing him on the cheek. Jin quickly avoided it by turning his head around and trying to wrap up the event with a friendly expression.

The event took place privately but videos of those moments were leaked and spread widely on social media. Seeing that, other fans poured criticism, saying “That’s clearly sexual harassment”, and filed a complaint to the Seoul Songpa Police Station requesting an investigation into the behaviors of the fans who crossed the line at the free hug event. Those problematic fans are known to be famous Japanese bloggers and they sparked controversies again after posting reviews of meeting Jin, saying “His skin is very soft. It was so smooth”.

Actor Byun Woo-seok, who has emerged as a next-generation Hallyu star, is enjoying his heyday after the success of the drama “Lovely Runner’. However, side effects of his immense popularity have also occurred. While receiving huge love from Asian fans, the actor also has to deal with sasaengfans who attempted to invade his private life. Last month, Byun Woo-seok’s agency released a statement asking fans to refrain from trying to make close interactions with the actor and announcing their plans to protect the actor from sasaengfans.

The fact that fans flocked to the private interview of Byun Woo-seok after the end of “Lovely Runner” proved his popularity, however, it also means that many are trying to observe his moves. Some sasaengfans are even buying and selling information about Byun Woo-seok’s private schedules. 

While carrying out his fanmeeting tour, Byun Woo-seok recently faced sasaengfans in Taiwan. Not long ago, a Taiwanese media outlet reported that sasaengfans booked dozens of cars to follow the actor and rented the hotel where he stayed to find out his room by pressing the elevator to every floor. This issue caused people to worry that Byun Woo-seok, who is always friendly, may refrain from interacting with fans.