Former TVXQ member Kim Junsu opened up about the shocking hardships he faced because of sasaeng fans during the group’s active years.
On June 1, a new video featuring Kim Junsu was uploaded to Sung Si Kyung’s YouTube channel. In the clip, Sung Si Kyung personally cooked jajangbap (rice with black-bean sauce) and egg soup for Kim, and the two shared a candid conversation over a meal.
The talk turned to TVXQ’s promotions in Japan. Citing a story from an acquaintance who once studied there, Sung said, "I heard it used to be hard for Korean men to approach Japanese women. But after TVXQ, phrases like 'Let’s grab a drink' or 'Let’s have tea' started to be received more openly." Kim responded carefully, "We didn’t necessarily feel it directly, but I can’t say there was absolutely no discrimination against Koreans back then." He added, "We couldn’t freely walk the streets, and at events early on, we sometimes felt a bit sidelined."
Kim then revealed disturbing experiences with sasaengs during TVXQ’s peak. When Sung brought up recently sharing a flight with aespa and said, "Watching sasaengs take the same flights looked incredibly tough," Kim replied, "So it’s still the same," recalling the past.
"All the members were watching a horror movie in the living room when the front-door motion light kept turning on," Kim said. "I checked because it felt off, and a woman was standing right at the edge of the door." He continued, "We were so startled that we sent her away and went to sleep, but I woke up to a noise and saw a pair of legs going up to the second floor." He added, "Later, Jaejoong told me a woman had come upstairs and tried to kiss him. Our manager kept her there until the police arrived, and she was smiling at us the whole time. It was truly terrifying."
There was an even more shocking incident. "Honestly, the bathroom was scarier," Kim confessed. "I’d go in to pee, and sometimes female fans would come out from inside a stall. Even while I was using the restroom, they would stand next to me asking for an autograph." Toward the end, he said, "At some point, the number of sasaengs decreased and I slowly got past the trauma, but things like that kept happening well into my twenties." Sung firmly added, "People who cross that boundary aren’t fans."
Kim Junsu debuted with TVXQ in 2003 and later continued activities with Jaejoong and Park Yoochun as JYJ. He is currently active as a musical actor.