Last year, several stalking incidents of sasaengs and lunatic fans happened, especially to female artists, which cause the fans and netizens to worry about their security and safety. Though the staff and agencies were doing their best to regulate this threat, there are still some individuals who can find a way to have their obsessions to their idols.
On the 11th of January, EXO members Sehun and Chanyeol suffer from spreading their personal information as they lost their passports while they were in a foreign country.
According to the domestic media outlets, the members have shared their passports information to the local airport employees as they landed at Hanoi Airport in Vietnam. The artists who were supposed to enjoy their performance for the 2020 K-pop Concert in Hanoi experienced trauma as their information leaked rapidly throughout different social media platforms.
An unknown account then posted later after, extending their apology to the members and the fans for causing the scene. He said, "I did send the photo to a friend who's also a fan of EXO but I asked them never to share the photo. I'm really sorry. I apologize to all the fans of EXO." Then, the account was deactivated hours after the post.
This is not only the thing that alarmed fans but as well as the mobbing incident while they were at the airport. Photos showing the crowd showed how disappointed Chanyeol and Sehun was.
Chanyeol was heard by a fan saying, "Let me go," and "Don't Touch me" in Korean, but fans present in the airport were not responsibly managed.
The members who were offered to use the VIP exits refused so that they can meet EXO-ls in Vietnam; however, things don't go as well as expected.
Fans and netizens were then demanding more security personnel from the SM Entertainment and hoped that the safety and well-being of their artists would be their priority. It was evident that the fans were not adequately organized, and enough space to walk on wasn't given to members.
On the other hand, JYP Entertainment experienced the same situation, where TWICE Dahyun suffered as well from personal information leakage.
The agency following the incident has immediately released an official statement saying that they would take legal actions under the law, to those people involved in spreading the member's information.
Moreover, TWICE Nayeon's stalker has been filed with a criminal charge, after trying to invade the member's personal space and following her around Korea and even overseas.
YG Entertainment has been looking to the discrimination, hate comments, and sexual remarks to BLACKPINK's Lisa as well, and the person involved can be sued if proven guilty.
Lastly, as a reminder to fans, leakage of personal information is a violation of the law, as well as privacy invasion and stalking. As a fan, it is best to know the limitations and the wall that can't be crossed between an idol and a fan.
