NCT WISH's Security Team Also Slammed Amid Recent "Excessive Guarding" Controversies

Amid the recent string of incidents involving security teams “over-guarding” K-Pop idols and harming fans, NCT WISH‘s security team is getting backlash for their excessive behavior at the group’s latest fan sign event.

GTQ4_ppaYAgmvz9 — NCT WISH | *@nctwish_official/Instagram*

The event—held at the bustling mall of COEX in Seoul, Korea that draws many locals and tourists daily—was announced to be “public” or held in an open space for all to see.

However, some videos from the event showed otherwise. One visitor shared a video in a viral tweet that captured multiple security guards responding with hostility at the site of their cellphones. The guards can be heard shouting, “Keep it moving.”

240728 위시 공팬 코엑스

개무섭다‼️ㄷㄷ
잠깡 폰 들었다고 몇명이‼️‼️ pic.twitter.com/266sc8DZLU

— 츄 (@loveringcandy) July 28, 2024

240728 WISH Public Fansign COEX

F*cking frightening! Geez. Look how many react to me taking out my phone for a second.

— @loveringcandy/X

Another fan shared their experience at the mall—accusing the security team of being unnecessarily hostile toward the fans.

코엑스 공팬 진짜 속상하다…
늦잠 자서 갈 생각 못하다가 하이디라오 예약 때문에 2시쯤 갔음
사이드 펜스 쳐져있는 곳 앞에 아무도 없길래 ?? 하면서 섰더니 바로 씨큐가 저리 가라고 함
그래서 머글인 척 뭐하는데요? 왜 서있으면 안 되는데요? 따지니까 아무말도 못하길래 걍 섰는데 내가…

— 먀 (@Qoo_yummy) July 28, 2024

I’m so mad about the COEX fansign event… I slept in and wasn’t planning on going. But I had a Haidilao reservation, so I showed up around 2 PM. No one was near the side fences, so I walked over confused. That’s when the guards told me to get out of there. I pretended not to be a fan and asked, ‘What’s going on here? How come I can’t stand here?’ The guards couldn’t answer, so I stood my ground. As I kept standing there, some other fans came over to join me. The guards f*cking went off on them… I don’t understand why the security guards are so hostile toward the fans who are the ones spending the money that pays them.

— @Qoo_yummy/X

One accused the security team for locking visitors inside a shop and mistreating them, too.

오늘 코엑스 공팬 팬싸공간 뒤에 가챠샵에서
안에 있는 사람들 못 나오게 한다고 냅다 가챠샵 문을 잠구고 그 좁고 답답한 곳에서 못 나오게 함. 그리고 팬싸 시작 전에 가챠샵 안에 있는 사람들 영업방해로 신고하겠다고 안에 있던 사람 얼굴 사진 다 찍어감 애초에 가챠 하러 온 사람도 있었는데요; https://t.co/ZvxIoSQEX6

— 🥨 (@onlyctinn1) July 28, 2024

The guards locked people inside the COEX gacha shop behind the fansign event space today. People in the gacha shop were confined to that small, stuffy space by the guards who insisted on stopping them from exiting. In fact, right before the event started, the guards even took pictures of the people in the shop, threatening to report them to the police for harassment. But people were literally there to play gacha.

— @onlyctinn1/X

The accounts of what happened sparked fierce criticism from Koreans, whose disappointment in the recent controversies ran deep. Most pointed out that it was ill-planning on SM Entertainment‘s end to hold the event at a crowded mall while the guards inconvenienced non-fans, threatened fans, and contradicted the whole idea of the event being public.”

Screenshot 2024-07-28 at 12.51.47 PM — | *theqoo*

“Nugu? Must be rookies since there isn’t a lot of talk about this.”
“Unless the entire COEX mall belongs to them, this is nonsense. No one cares about NCT WISH. Stop overreacting.”
“You don’t own COEX. F*cking excessive.”
“Celebrities are not that big of a deal, like c’mon. LOL. I don’t get it. Stars need fans to exist. If anything, celebrities are the ones dependent on fans. So what’s with all the power tripping?”
“So intimidating…”
“What’s wrong with them? What the f*ck? Crazies.”
“Doesn’t this defeat the purpose of having a fansign event be public, though? LOL. The public ones are meant to promote to the non-fans. But if it’s going to inconvenience them and making them feel mistreated… You might as well make it a private one in a closed-off space.”
“So what was the point of making it a public event, then? SM Entertainment is so extra all the time.”
[Deleted]
“I don’t appreciate the way they’re talking to the fans.”
“Who do they think they’re guarding? The royals?”

Following actor Byeon Woo Seok‘s most scandalized airport departure, security teams have been at the center of attention for mistreatment of fans. Read more about CRAVITY‘s security team now facing legal battle for causing injury with battery.