Safety surrounding celebrity travel has often raised one too many debates online, especially when it comes to K-pop idols. Recently surfaced shocking visuals from an international airport caught a group of invasive fans mobbing South Korean singer and former figure skater Sunghoon, who is a member of the band ENHYPEN.

As seen in now-viral videos available on X, the chilling scenes showed ENHYPEN’s Sunghoon being forced to run around the airport in an attempt to evade fans sprinting after him. 

According to K-media outlet SBS Star, the terrifying development unravelled at Incheon International Airport, as Sunghoon had just flown into South Korea on January 11 after completing a personal schedule in Shanghai.

ENHYPEN Sunghoon mobbed at airport

As per the videos being shared online, multiple female fans, now being referred to as ‘sasaengs’ (South Korean term for obsessive and invasive fans), were seen racing after the K-pop idol. The chaos reportedly peaked near an elevator, an area fans were pictured crowding outside the lift as they tried their all to board it with Sunghoon.

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The situation was just as scary for Sunghoon as it was for other travellers who had to endure it despite sharing no connection whatsoever to it. Meanwhile, K-pop fans online were particularly ticked off by the apparent lack of security backing the popular singer at the airport. Viral videos of the incident barely shed light on a female staffer accompanying him at the time, as per SBS Star.

Fans demand better provisions for K-pop idol’s security

Soon after the clips of the “zombie-like” chase surfaced on SNS platforms like X, international fans amplified the visuals while calling out ENHYPEN’s agency, BELIFT Lab. Many urged the K-pop label to “blacklist the sasaengs” to ensure the singer’s safety.

On the flip side, others took note of the well-thought-out plan to safely escort Sunghoon at an event organised by fashion platform MUSINSA China just earlier that day. They couldn’t help but map out the stark comparisons between security arrangements made for Sunghoon in Shanghai and the lack thereof during his return to Korea.

Hashtags like “#WeSTANDwithSUNGHOON” and “#BELIFTLABPROTECTSUNGHOON” started trending on X immediately, as fans were keen on holding the group’s agency accountable over safety concerns Sunghoon had to face at the airport.

Tweets like “Belift do your job protect your artist this is not normal and it’s not okay” and “Are you insane not giving him bodyguards when he’s literally alone and sasaeng crimes have already happened before” took over X.

Idol I K-drama buzz reignited after Sunghoon’s sasaeng chase video

At the same time, some fans turned their attention to how the emergence of such an instance of security lapse had coincidentally aligned with the release of the K-drama Idol I. Premiering in December, the South Korean show starring Choi Soo Young and Kim Jae Young is still ongoing. The mystery series revolves around a famous lawyer defending her favourite K-pop idol, who has been wrongly accused of murder.

Even beyond its overarching plot, Idol I goes to great lengths to portray the burden of unrealistic expectations placed on the backs of K-pop artists simply because of their public status. As it so happens, one specific scene from the show bears an uncanny resemblance to an interaction ENHYPEN’s Sunghoon had to deal with in real life in the past.

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The scene in question depicts a girl showing up to one of Do Ra Ik’s (Kim Jae Young) fan events. She gets visibly frustrated as the K-pop idol character fails to recognise her. “You still don’t remember my name? It’s been years,” the pushy fan insists, disrespectfully adding, “What’s your IQ?” As helpless as Kim’s character is in the situation, he ends up apologising to her while asking her name again, and promising her that he’ll remember it this time.

Instead of simply giving him the answer, the fan pushes that she’ll only tell him her name if he shares his personal phone number with her.

Years ago, Sunghoon became the victim to a similarly troubling fan interaction. During a Weverse video call event, a rude fan continuously pressed the K-pop idol to answer her questions, creating a discomforting vibe as the ENHYPEN member couldn’t remember who she was. The clip was ultimately shared on X, only for the ill-worded, original tweet to be deleted later.

However, furious fans re-posted the fan call video on their end, and the clip can still be found on online platforms, including YouTube.

While Sunghoon is evidently not the first K-pop idol to be harassed by rude fans or sasaengs these past years, the release of the Idol I K-drama has driven a wedge through fan communities.

Idol I boycott kdrama
Fans discuss ‘Idol I boycott’ calls on Instagram Threads.

As witnessed on social media, certain K-pop fans raised boycott calls targeting the new drama series despite the show digging deeper into the harsh and scary reality public figures have to grapple with simply for being widely recognised. With the show forcing ignorant “fans” to look within, international fans have pointed out that it may be hitting a bit too close to home in sasaengs’ case.

As opposed to some Korean fans, international viewers have praised Idol I for exposing the sense of entitlement enacted by some intrusive fans, who end up pushing celebrities to the edge by subjecting them to harassment and stalking.

“It’s the sasaengs who are boycotting because ‘it’s not an accurate representation of fans’ and that’s how you know that it, in fact, is accurate. Everybody else knows this is the unfortunate reality,” read a comment on a much-discussed post on Instagram Threads.

Another message said, “Just hearing this boycott and tbh, I think sasaengs are just upset that their behaviours are highlighted on a global scale now. Sorry but y’all are out of control and these idols deserve sooo much better than that.”