Information from Yongsan District Police (Seoul) said that two female nationals have been arrested on charges of illegally entering the dormitory of the male group CORTIS.
According to initial investigation, the group's manager discovered many packages of goods damaged in front of the door, and the dormitory entrance was open, so they immediately reported to the police. When present at the scene, functional forces discovered two suspects hiding on another floor of the building.
During the working process, the two confessed to buying CORTIS's dormitory address through social networks. However, they denied destroying the packages as well as not intruding into the member's living area.
This is not the first time CORTIS has become a target of sasaeng. Previously, the management company had warned about many subjects continuously infiltrating the artist's residence, even secretly attaching GPS positioning devices to the group's means of transportation. This unit affirmed that it will strictly handle all acts of privacy infringement.
The incident once again reflects the alarming reality of sasaeng culture in K-pop. Initially, this term was used to refer to fans who excessively follow their idols. However, for many years, the boundary between "passionate admiration" and illegal behavior has been increasingly blurred.
Many sasaengs are willing to spend large sums of money to buy personal information such as home addresses, phone numbers, flight schedules or car license plates of artists. Some cases even hire taxis to follow, install tracking devices, break into dormitories or secretly film private lives to sell images to secret communities online.
Notably, the testimony of the two suspects in the CORTIS case shows that the dormitory address was purchased from social media accounts. This raises concerns about the existence of lines of personal data trading of artists, turning privacy into a "tradeable item".
CORTIS is also not an isolated case. In 2025, a Chinese woman was arrested after repeatedly entering a password to try to break into Jung Kook's (BTS) house immediately after the male singer completed his military service. Previously, many artists from HYBE, SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment or YG Entertainment also continuously became victims of stalking, secretly filming, spreading personal information and intruding into their residences.
Experts believe that when the purchase and sale of personal data takes place publicly on online platforms, sasaeng is no longer simply a "fan cuồng" phenomenon, but is showing signs of becoming an organized tracking crime. This poses a requirement to tighten the protection of personal data, trace information leakage lines and strengthen the implementation of regulations against stalking and privacy infringement to ensure the safety of artists.
