A woman is being investigated for sexually harassing a member of a K-pop boy band after she gained entry into the building of his agency.
The Gangnam Police arrested the woman for touching the body of a member of K-pop boy band Cravity on Oct. 3 inside the Starship Entertainment headquarters in Gangnam, Seoul.
A Korean media outlet reported that the woman is a “sasaeng fan,” a term used to describe an obsessive fan.
In a statement, Starship Entertainment said the “unidentified person broke into our office building and made contact with our artist.”
“The person entered the company’s door, which is equipped with a key device such as fingerprint recognition, without permission, and approached and made physical contact with a member of Cravity who was waiting for a schedule inside the office building,” the agency said.
Starship said the manager who accompanied the member immediately reported it to the police. The police officer who was dispatched asked the women to leave and go with him to the police station for questioning but she did not respond and, instead, made a fuss in front of the building.
The agency has provided the police with the CCTV footage inside and outside the building, and the police are currently investigating the trespassing and unwanted physical contact with the Cravity member.
“We strongly inform you once again that visits to offices and accommodations are strictly prohibited, and in the event of such an incident, punishment will be carried out without leniency,” the agency said.
Under Article 298 of Korea’s Criminal Act on Indecent Act by Compulsion, “a person who, through violence or intimidation, commits an indecent act on another shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than ten years or by a fine not exceeding fifteen million won .”
According to Korean media outlet Kyunghyang Shinmun, the woman is a “sasaeng fan” who broke into the Starship building ahead of the implementation of the new stalking punishment law, which was enacted last April and will take effect starting Oct. 21.
Under the law, a stalker can be punished by imprisonment with labor for up to three years and a fine of up to 30 million won ($25,400).