On June 13 of last year, during an event where BTS member Jin hugged 1,000 fans, a female fan unexpectedly kissed him. The police have filed charges and requested the appearance of a 50-year-old Japanese woman approximately seven months after the incident. They are also reviewing how and when to conduct an investigation involving Jin as the victim.
According to the information gathered, the Seoul Songpa Police Station charged the woman last month with indecent assault in a crowded public place and requested her to appear earlier this month. The suspect, currently residing in Japan, has yet to respond to the police’s request for her appearance.
The event took place on June 13, last year, at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul, as part of the ‘2024 FESTA,’ where Jin participated in a ‘Hug Session’ with about 1,000 fans. It was held just a day after he completed his military service as an army sergeant and was in celebration of BTS’s 11th debut anniversary.
During this event, controversy arose when a fan suddenly kissed Jin on the cheek. Photos captured Jin looking visibly uncomfortable as he tried to avoid the fan. The day after the incident, a petition was filed through the National Petition Board to take action against the fan. The police then began an internal investigation, and rumors spread on social media that the perpetrator was a Japanese woman. A user on Twitter shared a capture from a Japanese blog in which the alleged female blog owner described the encounter, noting, “My lips touched the neck. The skin was very soft.”
The police sent an email to the Japanese blog site in June last year, requesting the user’s personal information, but received no response. Subsequently, in July, they requested an international investigative collaboration through Interpol, and the suspect was identified approximately seven months later.
The Seoul Songpa Police Station has now charged the 50-year-old Japanese woman, referred to as A, and requested her to appear for questioning. Meanwhile, the police are waiting for her response and plan to proceed with their investigation by interviewing Jin as a victim, rather than a witness, regarding his experience at the event.