Woman in Hot Water Over Kiss of K-Pop Star

S. Korean cops summon 50-something woman for questioning after smooch of BTS member
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 28, 2025 12:55 PM CST
Cops Seek Woman Accused of Smooching BTS Member
Jin, a member of the South Korean K-pop band BTS, is seen ahead of a press conference in Seoul, South Korea, on May 21, 2021.   (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)

A kiss is not just a kiss in South Korea—especially if you try to smooch a member of BTS. NBC News reports that police there have summoned a woman accused of planting one on 32-year-old Kim Seok-jin, better known as the K-pop group's Jin, without his consent, with the suspect now asked to come in for questioning. Cops say they started an investigation after a complaint came in online, though a police official says that, due to privacy laws, they're not releasing the woman's name.

In the incident from last June, Jin was doling out free hugs to fans at a crowded Seoul event in celebration of the end of his mandatory military service. Per Yonhap, the suspect, said to be in her 50s, suddenly came out of nowhere and gave Jin a kiss on his cheek, causing him to appear quite uneasy. "My lips touched his neck. His skin was so soft," she allegedly wrote later in a blog post.

Media reports say that police were able to help identify the woman thanks to help from Japanese authorities. South Korean police say since being IDed, the woman has been uncooperative. If she soon chooses to comply with the summons, police say she'll be questioned and possibly face sexual harassment charges, per the New York Times, which notes, "They didn't say what additional steps they might take if she did not oblige." (More BTS stories.)

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