5 times K-pop idols were mobbed by fans at the airport

K-pop idols are loved and revered globally. However, fame also brings with itself the ugliness of sasaengs, akgaes, and fans who do not understand or respect boundaries. This leads to K-pop idols being hounded and mobbed by hordes of fans who wait for them at airports or other public spaces, even when the stars are on their private schedules.

While many might consider being surrounded by loving fans harmless, the constant need for such fans to touch or have a moment of interaction with their favorite idols has led to multiple accidents as well.

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5 Incidents where K-pop idols were mobbed by fans in the name of love

1) Taeyeon

Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon was violently mobbed by fans at the airport in 2017 when she landed in Jakarta for promotional activities. Fans started crowding near her at the airport, trying to greet and interact with the K-pop idol, and things soon turned unruly.

Taeyeon was only accompanied by her manager, who was soon overpowered by the horde of fans who pushed Taeyeon down, and the K-pop idol started shaking and crying. A security officer had to pick her up and transport her safely to the car. This situation left Taeyeon traumatized.

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2) NCT 127

NCT 127 was on their Neo City-The Origin tour in Mexico in 2019 when a fun fan-idol interaction took a darker turn. Fans started crowding the members, and some even reached out to touch the K-pop idols.

Taeyong and Jungwoo were pushed around and hit by fans while someone even tried to snatch Yuta’s cap. Fans tried to touch and grope the members and one of them even held on to Mark. What made things worse was that the security personnel employed to escort the members was seen taking videos and photographs of the situation rather than helping the boys out.

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3) ENHYPEN

ENHYPEN too was the victim of an unruly mob despite having just debuted in 2020. The group were on their way to Jeju Island but were met with an unruly mob of fans who tried to stop them from walking away at the Gimpo airport.

Having only just debuted, the K-pop idols were not prepared for such a large crowd and looked immensely distressed by the situation. Maknae Ni-ki was separated from the group for a short duration due to the crowd pushing the members around. Another member, Jake, was also seen crying as the situation spiraled out of control around him.

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4) Sunggyu

In 2018, Infinite’s Sunggyu had wrapped up his work for the musical he was involved in and was heading to his car to go to the airport when he was swarmed by an unruly mob of fans who stopped him from getting inside the vehicle.

Things took a turn for the worse when a fan tried to push him and get inside the car with him. Luckily, the idol’s manager noticed the incident and managed to pull the lady out of the car and the idol was able to safely travel.

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5) V

BTS’ V was chased through the airport by zealous Sasaengs in 2016 when he arrived at Gimpo Airport. The entire incident was disturbing and anxiety provoking for both the K-pop idol and those who witnessed it.

The manager, upon realizing that the fans were getting ready to chase V, pulled away the K-pop idol to transport him safely to the car. They can be seen running and trying to avoid the screaming sasaengs who were relentlessly trying to catch up to him.

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To prevent harm to idols and people in the vicinity, BTS’ fandom ARMY started the purple ribbon project where fans tried to control the crowd using a purple ribbon as a barrier to allow the group to safely pass through the airports without getting hurt.