Murder threats targeting K-pop industry: ‘I will kill Winter’, online post terrifies aespa girl group member
- South Korea’s K-pop industry has become the latest target for online threats of violent copycat crimes in recent weeks
- Winter of aespa girl group, has been targeted, as have staff at SM Entertainment, home to a number of K-pop acts including boy band NCT
The K-pop industry has become a target for online threats of violent copycat crimes triggered by random stabbing attacks in South Korea in recent weeks.
On August 3, 22-year-old Choi Won-jong rammed a car into pedestrians outside a department store in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, before attacking shoppers with a knife inside the building.
The attack, which killed a woman in her 60s and wounded 13 people, is believed to be a copycat crime of the stabbing spree that took place on July 21 in which Cho Sun, a 33-year-old man, killed one man and injured three others in southern Seoul.
These incidents have led Korea to see a spike in the number of internet posts threatening to carry out similar crimes, with 119 people caught sharing them as of Friday, according to the police. K-pop stars and their staffers are now also victims of these threats.
Hanam Police Station in Gyeonggi Province revealed on Friday that a man in his 20s – whose identity has been withheld – uploaded a post online saying he would kill nine members of staff at SM Entertainment. SM Entertainment is home to a number of K-pop acts including boy band NCT and girl group aespa.
The man insisted that he committed the act “in a fit of rage,” because he believed an SM artist – a girl group member who he has been following for 10 years ― did not like him. He reportedly sent her social media messages about his feelings for her. The police found he had mapped out a criminal plan.
A few days before the incident, SM Entertainment reported an internet user to the police for posting a murder threat on August 7, targeting aespa member Winter.
“Tomorrow, I will kill Winter, who will fly abroad,” read the post. Winter and other aespa members were set to head for the US on August 8 to join the Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival.
SM asked the police for a prompt investigation and bolstered security to protect its singer. Thanks to its effort, Winter safely departed from Korea as planned.
“The police visited our company headquarters [in Seoul] to check out the security and safety conditions,” the company added.
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Another K-pop record label HYBE, which manages the Grammy-nominated boy group BTS, has closed the main entrance of its headquarters in Yongsan District, central Seoul, after a post forewarning of a knife stabbing was shared online.
“I will stab people in front of the HYBE headquarters”, the post read. “I really hope Chairman Bang Si-hyuk will be there”.
Police searched the neighbourhood on August 8-9 but did not find any suspicious people. They recently announced that they would take strict action against those uploading online posts threatening heinous crimes.
