The Sasaeng Nightmare

   You've probably never heard of "the sasaeng nightmare". Or even about the term "Sasaeng". This is a phenomenon that mostly affects famous people in South Korea. But to start talking about this issue, I must first explain what a sasaeng is?

   In South Korean culture, a sasaeng or sasaeng fan (Hangul: 사생팬) is an obsessive fan of a Korean idol, or another public figure, that has engaged in stalking or other questionable behaviour that constitutes an invasion of privacy. The term sasaeng comes from the Korean words sa (Hangul: 사) meaning 'private' and saeng (Hangul: 생) meaning 'life', in reference to the fans' intrusion into the celebrities' private lives.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

   After reading the definition you probably have a good idea of why sasaengs are a social problem in South Korea. But believe me, this is just the tip of the iceberg. For years idols have had to endure this kind of behavior from these fans. Sasaengs will do anything just to be close to their idols and to get to be remembered by them. And when I say "anything", I mean "literally" anything. You only need to google "sasaeng fans" and you'll find hundreds of pages chronicling these girls' actions. They are 24/7 dedicated to their idols. They camp outside the homes of their favourite stars, they chase them in rented taxis and pay to hack their social media and personal accounts. From trespassing into their idols houses to even beating them, they do all kind of things with the intention of leaving an impression on them.

   The reason that got me to write about this was the recent incident in which was involved Jackson Wang, one of GOT7's member. GOT7 is one of my favourite kpop (Korean pop music) boy band, so I was pretty shocked when I heard that Jackson had a car accident after being chased to the airport by sasaengs. Wang was on his way to take a plane to Japan when sasaengs followed his car causing the accident. He was escorted away by a staff member, but not before witnesses snapped pictures of him holding his back. After the incident, JYP Entertainment, GOT7's label, released an official statement pleading fans to stop this behaviour.

JYP Entertainment official statement - Jackson Wang at the airport.

   After reading the news about Jackson's accident, I felt completely upset about the sasaengs' actions. I find it difficult to process that these women should be able to put aside their own lives to become a twenty-four-seven idol chasing fan. I dare to say that these people are on the verge of insanity. The saddest thing is that these girls not only annoy their favourite stars but they also discredit real fans. Several artists have stated that due to sasaengs' behaviour, they have treated all fans coldly, which is very disappointing for the fans who really support them. You may ask, what authorities can do about it, and the answer is that unfortunately, they have their hands tied. Although these so called "fans" transgress the law, most of them are minors, therefore they can not be prosecuted. Meanwhile, record companies can only hire more security for their idols and try to identify sasaengs to prohibit them the entrance to events where the artists perform other than that there is nothing they can do about it.

   In my personal opinion, I think that being a fan of an artist is normal; we all have a special affection towards a singer, group or an actor/actress in particular, but that does not mean they belong to us and have to give explanations about what they do every day. Artists are also human beings and are entitled, like everyone else, to have a private life. The fact that they're famous does not mean they have to be constantly in the public. I strongly believe that the best way to support your favourite artist is to know about their work, to go to concerts, to buy their albums among other things; and to try not to feed the morbidity towards their personal lives. 

If you want to know more about this issue you can watch the following 10-minute video made by a South Korean TV station.

SOURCES:
http://www.dailydot.com/upstream/jackson-got7-accident-sasaeng-stalkers/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasaeng_fan