A Brazilian woman has been handed a suspended prison sentence in South Korea after stalking BTS singer Jungkook, visiting his home at least 22 times and ringing his doorbell 133 times during one visit.
Judge Park Ji-won of the Seoul Western District Court sentenced the woman to one year in prison, suspended for two years, for violating South Korea’s anti-stalking law and trespassing, according to The Korea Times.
According to local media, the woman stalked Jungkook by repeatedly visiting his residence in Seoul’s Yongsan District between 7 and 28 December last year. Prosecutors said she waited outside the property, repeatedly rang the doorbell and left letters, photographs, and printed materials near the singer’s home.
During her first visit on 7 December, she loitered around the property, threw items over the wall and pushed letters through gaps in the door. Days later, she returned and rang the doorbell 133 times.
The court said that her behaviour demonstrated an “extreme level of obsession”, according to Law Talk News.
Investigators said the stalking escalated on 13 December, when the woman allegedly entered the residential property through a side gate left open while a food delivery worker was entering or leaving. She was arrested that day while allegedly trespassing and released the following day with a warning not to approach Jungkook or his home.
Court records said she ignored that warning and continued returning to the property. Police later issued an emergency protective order prohibiting her from coming within 100 metres of either Jungkook or his residence; prosecutors said she violated that order as well.
On 4 January, after the restraining order had been imposed, she returned again and left photographs and printed materials near the residence.
“The defendant continued committing stalking crimes even after being warned and released following a police investigation, and also failed to comply with emergency protective measures,” the court said.
The court also added that the victim, Jungkook, had expressed “a strong desire for severe punishment”.
Despite that, the court stopped short of imposing immediate jail time after weighing several mitigating factors. According to SBS News, the judge found that the woman appeared to have acted in an attempt to express her feelings towards the singer and “there was no intent to cause harm”, and that she did not enter Jungkook’s private living quarters.
The court further considered that she had already spent about three months in detention during legal proceedings, and the likelihood of reoffending was low.
Another factor behind her suspended sentence was the likely expectation that the woman would be deported from South Korea once the ruling becomes final.
Jeon Jung Kook, 28, is the youngest member of BTS, the seven-member K-pop group widely credited with helping turn South Korean pop music into a global cultural force. In 2020, BTS made history when their song “Dynamite” debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, making them the first all-South Korean act to top the chart.
Jungkook launched his official solo career in 2023 with Golden, before enlisting for South Korea’s mandatory military service in December that year. He returned from military service in June last year and is currently performing with BTS on the Arirang world tour, launched after the release of the group’s comeback album in March.
“Sasaeng” behaviour remains a persistent problem in K-pop, with obsessive fans violating celebrities’ privacy through persistent surveillance, stalking and unwanted contact. Jungkook has previously spoken out about such harassment, urging fans in 2023 to stop waiting outside his home and gym. In June last year, hours after his military discharge, police arrested a woman accused of attempting to break into his residence.
BTS member V has also faced similar harassment; in 2023, a stalker allegedly followed him into his apartment building and handed him a marriage registration form, prompting the group’s agency to reiterate its zero-tolerance stance on privacy violations.
