BTS RM, world star of surveillance and exposure

An employee of the Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) accessed the personal information of BTS RM (real name Namjun Kim, 29) without permission. It was revealed through an internal audit that RM's personal information was viewed over a period of approximately three years. The reality is that even if you feel uncomfortable, you cannot comfortably reveal your uncomfortable feelings.

According to KORAIL on the 2nd, Mr. A, an employee in charge of information technology (IT) development, secretly viewed RM's personal information. This has been done 18 times over the past 3 years since 2019.

The information Mr. A looked at included RM's residential address and mobile phone number. Mr. A confessed, “I am a fan of M and looked it up out of personal curiosity.” However, external leakage has not been confirmed to date.

After discovering the circumstances, KORAIL relieved Mr. A of his position and is said to be taking disciplinary action. Additionally, in order to prevent similar incidents from recurring, a method was introduced to display a notification window or require the user to enter a reason for the inquiry when checking personal information.

Personal information viewed without identity verification. RM expressed his emotions about the incident. RM shared a related article on his SNS and expressed his discomfort with the emoticon "^^;;".

Personal information is the realm of privacy. It is a time when voices for ‘privacy protection’ are growing louder in society. However, celebrities called stars live lives that are far from the ‘privacy network’.

For RM personally, this is already his second ‘private life exposure’. Regardless of one's intention, even 'a story that one does not want to know' has become a means to fulfill someone's purpose and greed.

RM visited Hwaeomsa Temple located in Gurye-gun, Jeollanam-do last January. RM had a leisurely time during a ‘temple stay’ at Hwaeomsa Temple. Unlike RM, who wanted to spend time quietly, the monks at Hwaeomsa Temple showed quick action.

The monks gathered information about RM's temple stay and made it into promotional material. Additionally, this fact was reported and distributed without RM’s consent. At that time, RM announced that he would not go to Hwaeomsa Temple in the future. ‘Temple Stay’, which started with good feelings, became a place to fulfill someone’s selfish desires.

It looks like they are being monitored 24 hours a day. In addition, member Jungkook had to watch as the hat he wore was traded for 10 million won. ‘Privacy protection’ has disappeared, and the world star group BTS has been used as a means to an end. It is too big and fatal to be the price paid for receiving attention and love.

Reporter Junho Yoon, Ten Asia delo410@tenasia.co.kr