An airline staff arrested for selling BTS flight and seat information so many times

February 27, 2025

 

Although management companies and the law have severally punished acts of privacy infringement, the reality shows that in recent years, the situations has not decreased. Idols, especially superstars like BTS, have always had their personal information leaked their private lives followed and harassed.

Recently, Korean police have continued to expose a ring that sells flight information and seat locations of celebrities, including BTS. It is known that the person arrested this time is a female employee of a Hong Kong airline.

Here is what the Korean media has been reporting a few hours ago.

As a K-pop fan, you are probably familiar with the news of idols having their privacy violated. BTS is one of the most frequent victims of this situation. ARMYs were shocked to learn that RM had his information illegally accessed by an employee of the Korean Railway Company for 3 years. Meanwhile, Jungkook is often bothered by crazy fans sending food and disturbing him at his door.

This time, K-pop fans in general and ARMYs in particular are once again scared when the Korean media reported that an airline employee had repeatedly sold flight information and seats of K-pop idols, including BTS. According to news from the cyber investigation unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, they are arresting and investigating an employee of an airline in Hong Kong after discovering that this person illegally disclosed  confidential information about celebrity flights to make money.

Specifically, this female employee took advantage for her authority to access the airline's internal booking system. This person illegally collected hundreds of flight data in the period 2023-2024 of dozens of celebrities. Initially, this data was only shared with acquaintances, but gradually she began to sell it for profit. Notably, the price of the information increases depending on the popularity of each artist. Investigators estimate that she sold more than 1,000 sets of data, earning more than 10 million KRW (equivalent to $7000).

According to another source, the female employee recently searched for personal information such as Jin and J-Hope's names and birthdays, then used the data to get their detailed flight information, including seat numbers. In addition to this female employee, the police are also searching for additional suspects who spread flight ticket information and received similar money.

Leaking flight information not only violates privacy but also directly threatens the safety of artists. Sasaeng fans can take advantage of this information to approach idols during flights or at the airport, even trying to arrange seats near them. Luckily, Jin and J-Hope have not encountered any bad situations recently.

However, their junior group ENHYPEN has not been so lucky. When their recent flight information was leaked, stalkers booked tickets on the same flight, deliberately choosing seats next to the members and disabling the seat swap option to ensure the closest possible approach.

Meanwhile, Kim Soodal — a former Korean Air Flight attendant and now a YouTuber shared how celebrities feel when faced with such a situation. "Celebrity passengers often don't prefer Koreans sitting next to them. If some fans buy the same plane ticket and sit next to you, celebrities have to be nervous during 10 hours."

The fear of never knowing when they will be secretly photographed or harassed for asking for photos makes idols feel insecure throughout the flight, even when sleeping of eating. Not to mention the presence of too many fans and sasaeng fans on flights or in airports, causing security to be at an alarming level. Both the mental and physical health of idols are seriously affected by this invasion of privacy.