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San the 2nd Ateez member to call out stalkers on tour, fans slam ‘sasaeng behavior’

Stalkers aka sasaengs followed Ateez while they were on their American tour last week

Sasaengs aka stalkers are the ones who usually give a bad name to K-pop fans. They often cross boundaries, invade idols’ privacies and collect and sell personal information like phone numbers and family members’ addresses. While artists’ labels have often announced that they will blacklist and sue such fans, it doesn’t deter them. Previously, fans were shocked when KQ Entertainment revealed that some sasaengs had gone as far as to put location tracking devices on Ateez’s vehicles.

And it looks like Ateez had some stalkers harassing them even while they were on their latest world tour. The K-pop boy group went on their second world tour in mid-January. Before the first concert of the American leg of their tour in Chicago, on January 17, Wooyoung and Jongho went Live on YouTube. And during the Live, Jongho had several sasaengs calling him. While the youngest member ignored the calls, Wooyoung called out those fans followed by San.

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Wooyoung gets angry on Live

Fans were first impressed with the way Wooyoung firmly handled the situation. He sternly told the fans through the Live not to call Jongho as it was not a good thing to do. However, it looks like the sasaengs did not listen as San had to address the situation again after the end of their tour. He took to the K-pop platform UNIVERSE to reprimand those who had stalked Ateez while they were in USA for their concerts.

San calls out stalkers

San shared, “We have had frequent shows and schedules lately, and when we are returning to our dorm or hotel from those schedules, there are people either waiting outside, or people who follow us to our destination, and this can cause some discomfort!” Atinys were pleasantly surprised at how polite the Ateez star was as he continued, “I know very well how much you love us. And I also love you very much. But please avoid causing discomfort to others, thank you.”

Even non-fans were impressed with how he gave these fans the benefit of the doubt as San further elaborated, “Please do not take this negatively! I will understand if you did so without knowing that it would burden others. But from now on, I would appreciate it if you could refrain. I can sense your affection toward me regardless!”

'It's disrespectful'

However, fans were angry on San’s behalf as one Atiny tweeted, “Can’t believe this has to be said but please don’t wait for them to finish their schedules and follow them around after?? san is explaining it so nicely on universe and asking not to do that even though it must have made them quite uncomfortable.” Another fan posted, “Y’all lucky san is al nice bc i sure would not be stop being a sasaeng and leave the boys alone.”

One bluntly commented, “The fact that San had to go on Universe and ask for privacy and felt srry/misunderstood PISSES ME OFF y’all giving SASAENG BEHAVIOR!! refrain from showing up to their hotel/following them or anything like that. it’s disrespectful as hell. they feel uncomfortable STOP IT.” Another wondered how serious the situation might have been, “From what I’ve seen, both Wooyoung and San have called out stalker behavior, and it usually takes quite a bit for stuff like that to be acknowledge, so I can’t imagine how much discomfort they’ve been out through.”