KARA member Heo Young-ji (허영지) recently appeared on the MBN and SBS Plus program "I Met a Psychopath" (내가 만난 사이코패스), where she publicly revealed her terrifying seven-year ordeal with a stalker for the first time. The program focuses on true crime cases and explores various dangerous incidents that occur in people's daily lives.
During the episode, Super Junior member Kyuhyun (규현) also shared his own experience with a sasaeng fan (obsessive fan). He recounted how, while living in the group's dorm, a sasaeng fan once hid inside a fire hydrant next to the dorm entrance to observe members coming and going. The fan even managed to steal the electronic door lock password, compromising the dorm's security. The incident remains vivid in his memory.
Heo Young-ji then confessed that she had been harassed by the same stalker for seven years, beginning in 2016. The individual not only consistently followed her movements but also frequently waited at the coffee shop run by her parents, causing her and her family to live in constant fear.
Heo Young-ji explained, "My parents were simply grateful for fan support, so they always treated everyone kindly." Unexpectedly, the stalker misinterpreted this kindness as approval from her family, even believing there was a "special relationship" between them. This led to increasingly extreme and out-of-control behavior.
Even more chilling, the individual not only stalked Heo Young-ji but also collected personal information about her family, including their car license plates, and even managed to obtain contact details for her relatives. Heo Young-ji recalled, "The person collected all of my family members' phone numbers, constantly harassed my sister, and kept contacting my parents."
The situation later escalated. She revealed that after other fans intervened to deter the stalker, the individual sent a threatening letter that read: "Those people are just jealous of our relationship. I want to kill them all." The menacing content still leaves her with lingering fear.
Heo Young-ji's account shocked the other guests present, including Jeon Hyun-moo (전현무), Super Junior's Kyuhyun, and rapper Nucksal (넉살).
She also disclosed that she had consulted with a lawyer as early as 2020, hoping to take legal action to stop the individual. However, because South Korea's Stalking Punishment Act had not yet been implemented at the time, and the perpetrator had not caused direct physical harm, legal accountability could not be pursued. She was left with no choice but to endure years of harassment.
