"We are looking into it"— HYBE Labels respond to explicit online threat and dorm location analysis made towards NewJeans

On Tuesday, August 21, a threat directed towards the K-pop girl group, NewJeans, landed on the internet. A netizen made a post on the online community platform, DC, where they made explicit and s*xual threats towards the NewJeans members.

*Trigger Warning: The following article contains mentions of explicit content and s*xual assault*

Here's what the threat's title and body read:

"Title: I’m going to r*pe NewJeans. Body: Starting from today, my goal is to r*pe the 5 members of NewJeans. First, I looked into their dorm."

Following this threat, fans were naturally concerned for the safety of the NewJeans members. Given that the netizen was not only making an inappropriate and dangerous threat towards the K-pop girl group members but also stated that they were aware of the group's dorm location, several fans and netizens were alarmed.

However, HYBE Labels soon responded to the same. They released a statement a few hours after the threat landed on the internet. They expressed that they are looking into the legitimacy of the matter and are also preparing to take legal action against the netizens and press charges for their behavior.

"We are looking into it. However, we are regularly looking into [potential] lawsuits and charges."

On the other hand, the legal punishment for these threats is pretty severe according to South Korean law. Even if these threats were made as a joke or without serious intention, the punishment can lead to at least 10 years in prison or a fine of up to 10 million KRW. However, the final verdict depends on the severity of the threat made.

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All you need to know about NewJeans and their recent activities

NewJeans is a K-pop girl group that debuted under HYBE Labels' subsidiary, ADOR Entertainment. They kickstarted their debut with a single called Attention, released in 2022, which effortlessly dominated the internet. Their other tracks on the EP album, such as Cookie and Hype Boy, also garnered a lot of attention.

From there, the girls have been constantly growing in the industry. With several brand deals with luxury fashion brands like Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Chanel, etc., and other renowned companies like Apple and Coca-Cola, the members also built a career outside the music industry for themselves.

Additionally, several of their tracks, like Ditto, OMG, Cool With You, Super Shy, ETA, and more, went viral on the internet. Even their most recent releases, Bubble Gum and their Japanese debut single album consisting of Supernatural and Right Now, are songs that fans can't stop talking about.

However, with the fame, the girls have also been subjected to threats and online hate. While the current situation at hand came as a shock to several fans and netizens, this wasn't the first alarming threat directed towards the members. Last month, a netizen who was allegedly reported to attending the K-pop girl group's fan meeting in Tokyo threatened to stab the members.

They posted a picture of their hand holding a knife and stated that they would be stabbing the members as they got out of their vans to enter the Tokyo Dome, which was the venue for the meeting. However, HYBE reported that they took strict measures to protect the members, and no such incident happened during the day of the fan meeting.