[Trans] Is Kim Hyun Joong being nice to ‘Sasaeng fans’?

Credit: http://wonderrrgirl.wordpress.com/2012/03/06/is-kim-hyun-joong-being-nice-to-sasaeng-fans/

Someone showed me this article. Actually I’ve heard of this article because I have been reading the Korean fans’ discussion about Kim Hyun Joong, and earlier on the controversy surrounding JYJ have already caught everyone’s attention. Here’s a translation of the news about Hyun Joong that came up shortly after the JYJ’s controversial behavior towards their Sasaeng Fans have been revealed to the public.

Note: Sasaeng fans (Stalker fans who following their idols everywhere, including invasion of their private lives)

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Source: News Nate
Credit: Wonderrrgirl 

Amidst the shocking news of JYJ’s Sasaeng Fans, Kim Hyun Joong’s cordial behavior towards his Sasaeng fans became a subject of discussion.

Recently, the topic ‘Kim Hyun Joong’s attitude towards Sasaeng fans’ together with a video was uploaded on one online community site, drawing the attention of the netizens. 

The video received even more attention especially with the aftermath of the controversy regarding JYJ’s members Kim Jae Joong and Park Yoo Chun’s violence towards the sasaeng fans.

In this video, it shows sasaeng fans waiting outside the agency for SS501 and the manager attempting to stop the fans from taking photos of Kim Hyun Joong and Kim Kyu Jong, with Kim Hyun Joong smiling to the Sasaeng fans and saying to them, “Snap away! Snap away!” 

Netizens who heard about Kim Hyun Joong’s cordial behavior towards the fans greet this with the following responses, “Kim Hyun Joong has a really good personality”, and “Not even getting angry in that sort of situation, he is really a genuine gentleman”.

Meanwhile, in the midst of the controversy surrounding idol stars’ Sasaeng fans, a diverse range of differing views with regards to these Sasaeng fans are churning out rapidly. 

Views ranging from “Sasaeng fans do things like waiting at the airport or searching for the star’s houses, watching the every move of the star, resulting in an invasion of the stars’ private lives and privacy” and “Without the fans, these idol stars would not have been able to survive. Using swear words and behaving violently towards the fans is not right.”  have been raised. 

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What do you guys think about this? I translated this news with a lot of concern brewing in my head. I do not think this article is right. Kim Hyun Joong is NOT just nice to Sasaeng fans, Kim Hyun Joong is nice to EVERY fan. This probably also applies to other idol stars out there. Just because he happened to be caught in a video showing him being nice to Sasaeng fans, it doesn’t make it ‘right’.

This article should not be an encouragement for all Sasaeng Fans-wannabes to think that it’s okay because Hyun Joong doesn’t seem to mind. I am afraid this piece of news is just going to send wrong messages to others out there.

Besides, the definition of ‘sasaeng fan’ is blurred, making it ridiculous to even compare JYJ’s controversy with Hyun Joong’s attitude towards sasaeng fans.

When those fans waited outside for SS501, how could they be simply labeled as ‘Sasaeng fans’ when they are there wanting to take a video of their idols coming out of the agency? It’s not as if they’re waiting outside his house or their dorm or whatever. If fans choose to wait outside agencies just to catch a glimpse of them, take pictures/videos and leave, should we call that a ‘Sasaeng fan’ behavior?

But what about fans who waited at the airport to send their idols off? Is that a ‘Sasang fan’ behavior? These fans only wanted to give their idols a great welcome, and a great send-off if they’re leaving the country. When Hyun Joong left South Korea for Japan to begin his Japanese debut, there are many fans who did not know his departure timings, so they came early in the morning to wait for him just to send him off in those precious few seconds where he will zoom passed and disappear into the customs. If these fans have every intention to stalk, they would have sneaked into the customs, bribe the guards to let them in, hide in his luggage, whatever.

On that day, I was aware he will leave in the evening so I only arrived at the airport in the evening, surprised to see so many fans there already. After speaking to some of them, I found out that they came so early just wanting to see him off. If their perseverance is admirable, their pure and sincere intentions are even more so, and they never meant any harm or neither do they wish to violate his privacy in any way.

I am thankful to all those fans who kept their distance, in view of wanting to respect him yet also taking photos and videos of him from far. These fans then share everything with other fans online, especially benefiting those who aren’t there in the first place. I’m pretty certain the owners of fan cams and pictures who took Hyun Joong coming into the airport, going for lunch after rehearsal, arriving for work at KBS etc, they have no intention to invade onto his private space. Occasionally there’s one or two overly excited fans who might have crossed this boundary, but to simply classify ‘fans who waited outside already known locations to take pictures or videos’ = Sasaeng fans, that’s just not right….

Comparing this to JYJ’s situation; sure enough, violence is not right. They could have made a better judgment of the situation, and not resort to any sort of physical violence. But who really knows what those fans are doing to JYJ? To wait outside their house and take a cab to follow them when they’re out on their own private times, and basically just being a huge nuisance, what do they expect honestly? Kindness?

So to be clear, Kim Hyun Joong is not just nice to sasaeng fans, if any out there. Kim Hyun Joong is nice to all his fans, mostly because he probably won’t even consider you as a sasaeng fan unless you’re one of those delusional sasaeng fans who hide outside his house and follow him everywhere he goes.

If the distinction between what’s a sasaeng fan and what’s just a normal loving fan who wants to take pictures of their idols is not made clear, we’re going to have more of these ridiculous comparisons and misleading conclusions about certain idol stars ‘approving’ sasaeng fans to continue their behavior.

I am sure nobody likes such behavior and certainly no one is going to approve of it. It’s basic respect. I hope even with this article, it will not send out wrong messages to the fans about ‘sasaeng fan’ behavior. It WILL be heavily frowned upon and it is nothing to be proud of.