The police have initiated a preliminary investigation into an incident where Jin (real name Kim Seok-jin), a member of the group BTS, was unexpectedly kissed by a fan during a fan meeting event.
According to the Seoul Songpa Police Station on the 19th, a BTS fan filed a complaint through the national public complaint portal on June 14, accusing some fans of attempting to kiss Jin during a fan meeting even which violates the Sexual Violence Crime Punishment Act. The fan’s complaint prompted an investigation.
Jin held a “hug event” during the 2024 Festa to commemorate his military service discharge with 1,000 lucky fans at the Jamsil Indoor Gymnasium in Songpa-gu, Seoul on June 13, the day before the complaint was filed. During the event, some fans were seen approaching Jin and seemingly attempting to kiss his face. This was captured on video and spread online, igniting controversy.
Subsequently, on the 15th, a post written by a person suspected of attempting to kiss Jin during the event circulated on social media accompanied by a photo.
The person who wrote the post is a Japanese fan, and in a blog post she uploaded, it stated, “My lips touched his neck; his skin was incredibly soft.”
Jin completed his active duty in the South Korean Army at the 5th Infantry Division’s Recruit Training Center in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi-do on the morning of the 12th.
With this, Jin, who enlisted in December 2022 and served as an assistant instructor, became the first of the seven members of BTS to be discharged.