HYBE Pushes Legal Action Over BTS Flight Info Leak
Jul 22, 2025
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The cyber investigation team of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency recently sent three foreign airline employees, including A, to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on charges of violating the Act on Promotion of Information and Communication Network Utilization and Information Protection.
Mr. A and others illegally found out about the boarding information of famous celebrities and collected tens of millions of won in exchange for handing it over to the distribution book. Distribution books sold these information through messenger open chat rooms or SNS DMs.
During the investigation, the police secured the details of A's illegal information acquisition and financial transactions, and also confirmed the structure of profit generation and the relationship of an accomplice.
In the music industry, celebrity ticket information has been leaked, causing great damage. Sasaeng fans have been stalking, such as buying the stars' flight ticket information and then boarding the same aircraft to try to contact them or changing the order for in-flight meals. Some sasaeng fans even canceled their flight reservations altogether or changed their seat information, causing disruptions in their celebrity schedules.
In response, BTS's agency Hive has set up a task force team in 2023 to respond to the flight information leakage problem and has consistently filed complaints with investigative agencies. Hive confirmed a number of SNS accounts trading celebrity ticket information online, secured evidence to identify the operator, submitted it to the police, and filed a complaint.
Through this, the police narrowed the investigation network and arrested A in February and two daily workers in March, respectively.
"We intend to actively cooperate with further investigations by investigative agencies and future judicial proceedings," Hive said. "We will hold accountable and sternly respond to criminal acts that commercialize and trade artist personal information without any agreement or preference."
silk781220@sportschosun.com
