SM Entertainment faced a series of unsettling threats as their popular artists became the target of consecutive extortion attempts and progress has been made after one of them was arrested!
The Gyeonggi Hanam Police Station has arrested a man in his 20s who had been a devoted fan of a girl group member under SM Entertainment for nearly a decade. He posted a message threatening to kill 9 staff members at the Seoul Forest Station of SM.
The man, identified as Mr. A, wrote on an online community, “I will kill only the SM employees at Seoul Forest Station.” He claimed that he was a fan of member B for about ten years and had conveyed his feelings through SNS direct messages (DMs). However, since he didn’t receive any response, he admitted to writing the threatening message out of anger.
However, through the seizure of his mobile phone and other evidence, the police found that Mr. A had detailed plans for the crime. He had set a specific date for the crime, planned how to write threatening messages after executing the crime, and even prepared how to respond to the police. Given these meticulous preparations, the police considered his claim that he acted in the heat of the moment to be less credible and thus decided to arrest him.
Recently, there was also an alarming incident where aespa member Winter received threats of murder. On the 7th, a shocking post emerged threatening violence against Winter, including murder and terrorism. The next day, SM Entertainment reported to the police and said, “A post threatening the safety of aespa’s Winter has been shared in an online community. Upon confirming, we immediately filed a complaint against the author and requested a swift investigation.”
In the post, the author specifically mentioned when Winter was leaving worrying fans. Following this, SM promptly increased security personnel, and with police cooperation, ensured that Winter and the other aespa members departed safely.
SM stated, “The police received several reports recently, and they visited our company headquarters yesterday and today to confirm security and safety conditions. We will continue to do our best to ensure the safety of our artists.”
Source: (A)
