HYBE has taken decisive legal action against individuals involved in the illegal acquisition and sale of flight information for their K-pop artists. On June 18th, the company announced that the suspects had been handed over to the prosecution following a thorough police investigation.
HYBE revealed that they had set up a special task force last year to combat the unauthorized trading of artists’ flight details. After identifying several social media accounts involved in these activities, HYBE gathered substantial evidence and submitted it to the police.
The police conducted an extensive investigation, both domestically and internationally, based on the provided evidence. As a result, several suspects were identified, and their cases have now been forwarded to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.
The investigation uncovered that the suspects made significant profits, ranging from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of won, by selling flight information of K-pop artists. The illegal transactions were conducted via chat or direct messages (DMs).
The illegally obtained information was used to engage in stalking behavior, such as attempting close contact with the artists by booking seats on the same flights. There were also instances where the suspects altered the artists’ seat assignments or in-flight meals, or canceled flight reservations, disrupting schedules and causing broader operational issues for the entertainment companies.
The impact of this illegal trading has affected not just HYBE artists, but many idol groups and actors across the industry, who have reported similar issues.
HYBE stated, “The unauthorized sale or purchase of flight information is a clear illegal act that threatens the safety and privacy of our artists and can lead to serious safety incidents at airports and on planes. We will respond to these criminal activities with zero tolerance, pursuing accountability without any settlements or leniency.”
To prevent further leaks of artists’ personal information, including flight details, HYBE has reviewed and strengthened its procedures and systems, and has requested cooperation from airlines and travel agencies. The company will continue to work closely with various organizations to protect the privacy of their artists.
Hello,
This is HYBE.
We would like to inform you of the results of our legal response in close cooperation with the authorities over several months, starting in the second half of last year, regarding the illegal acquisition and sale of HYBE Labels artists’ flight information.
Selling or purchasing illegally obtained flight information is a clear illegal act that threatens the safety of our artists and causes anxiety. Despite this, there has been an increase in acts of repeatedly checking the illegally obtained seat information of artists or boarding the same aircraft to secretly film them. It has been detected that these acts are being used to continuously approach and even attempt to contact the artists, leading to stalking behavior. There have also been frequent extreme cases of arbitrarily changing the artists’ seats and in-flight meals, or canceling flight reservations to disrupt schedules.
We have determined that these acts go beyond invading the privacy of our artists, posing serious threats to their safety and causing potential safety incidents at airports and on aircraft.
To protect our artists from the illegally traded flight information and to eradicate these illegal activities, we formed a special task force in September last year to address this issue.
Prior to taking legal action regarding personal information leaks, we collected numerous social media accounts that were illegally selling artists’ flight information online and secured evidence to identify the operators. We filed complaints with the investigative authorities against these illegal selling accounts for violations of the Personal Information Protection Act and actively cooperated with the investigative procedures.
Based on the submitted evidence, the investigative authorities conducted long-term domestic and international investigations and identified the suspects, including those presumed to be foreigners, in May. The suspects are accused of making criminal profits ranging from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of won over a long period by trading artists’ flight information through social media channels.
We plan to actively cooperate with the investigative authorities in further investigations and future legal proceedings. In addition, we will strictly hold accountable and respond without any settlements or leniency to the criminal acts of commercializing and trading artists’ personal information.
Moreover, to protect the personal information of our artists and prevent further leaks, we have reviewed and strengthened related procedures and systems, and requested cooperation from airlines and travel agencies. We will continue to closely collaborate with various organizations to protect our artists’ personal information.
Thank you.
