Korea Times reported that 3 airline employees accused of selling flight information of BTS and other celebrities are currently being prosecuted.
According to the Public Relations Director of HYBE - BTS's management company - the cybercriminal unit of the Seoul Capital Police Department, arrested 3 people, including 1 crew member, in February and March on suspicion of selling flight information of BTS members to brokers, violating the personal information protection law.
During the investigation, the police are said to have history of collecting illegal information and financial records of the suspects, confirming the structure of the profiteering activities.
The case was transferred to the prosecution agency last weekend. The nationality and detailed information about the defendants' actions have not been disclosed.
HYBE said that BTS was not the only victim of this group. "Other artists of HYBE, as well as artists from many other entertainment companies, were also targeted," said HYBE's Public Relations Director.
It is known that the above group of subjects sold information about the famous person's flight to a broker for tens of millions of won. After that, brokers resell to fans through direct messages on social networks or public chats.
In the Kpop industry, leaked flight information of artists has long caused serious problems.
Fans known as "sasaeng fans" took advantage of leaked flight information to board the same flight as their idol. They have many actions that go beyond limits such as monitoring, secretly filming, or trying to come into physical contact with artists...
In serious cases, some fans have canceled their bookings or changed their seats, disrupting the artist's schedule.
HYBE notes that such privacy violations have long affected K-pop artists, and they have worked with the police for years to get violators to justice.
In September 2023, the K-pop company established a task force to handle the issue. This force began collecting evidence from social media platforms and submitting the results to law enforcement agencies.
HYBE stated, We will apply a non-compromise policy and take strong legal action without any leniency or leniency towards anyone involved in the commercial and trading of artist personal information crimes.
