Gossip mill: Fan who kissed BTS' Jin surrenders, Song Ji-hyo trains as a haenyeo, Chris Wang wipes social media after alleged divorce

Fan who kissed BTS Jin turns herself in

The Japanese fan who forcibly kiss BTS's Jin during a fan-hugging event in 2024 has surrendered herself to South Korea police.

According to local media reports on Thursday (May 8), police said that the woman, who is in her 50s, was to be prosecuted over sexual crime charges.

Last June, Jin appeared in his first public event in Seoul where he hugged 1,000 fans, after being discharged from military service. When it came to the woman's turn, besides hugging the 32-year-old K-pop star, she also kissed him, to which he responded by turning away.

South Korean media reported that the woman wrote in her blog later: "My lips touched his neck. His skin was extremely soft."

Her actions angered fans and one of them filed a police report.

In February, South Korean police summoned the woman, who was in Japan, for questioning on charges of sexual harassment. However, she did not co-operate, leading to a suspension of the investigation.

According to South Korean law, a person convicted of sexual harassment in a crowded public space may face imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million won (S$27,774).

Song Ji-hyo trains as a haenyeo

Song Ji-hyo was once hailed the "Queen of the Sea" by Running Man members and this time, she has set herself her new challenge — training as a haenyeo (a group of female divers on Jeju island).

The 43-year-old South Korea actress was in Kuala Lumpur recently, where she promoted her first documentary series, BBC Earth's Deep Dive Korea: Song Ji Hyo's Haenyeo Adventure.

Ji-hyo shared that her mother was a competitive swimmer and her eldest aunt was a haenyeo. She wanted to present the strength and depth of haenyeos' lives to the viewers, according to CNA Lifestyle.

"Unlike other projects, I never wanted to look pretty doing this. All I wanted to show was my determination and the effort I was putting in," she said.

Ji-hyo went on an intensive one-month training with the women and even caught hypothermia at one point. Despite that, she remained determined to continue.

She shared that the training had strengthened her mentally and she remained in contact with the haenyeos, visiting them when she was in Jeju. She even kept a set of tools from her training.

Ji-hyo added: "I am more confident in taking on more physically challenging projects in the future. I enjoyed watching myself being upgraded and developed through this challenge. It was a good refresh for myself."

Deep Dive Korea: Song Ji Hyo's Haenyeo Adventure premieres on May 11.

Chris Wang deletes all social media accounts after alleged divorce

Taiwanese actor Chris Wang, who was sentenced to eight months' jail in 2024 for sexual assault, has allegedly divorce his wife and manager Lin Yixian after a decade of marriage.

According to Taiwanese media reports on Wednesday (May 7), an anonymous whistleblower alleged that while handling some matters for the 42-year-old, they'd noticed that the section in his identification document for spousal details had been left blank.

They also claimed that the house in which Chris stayed with Yixian and their two children — a daughter and a son — was vacated.

After the divorce allegations broke, Chris appeared to have shut down his social media accounts, including those on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

The actor was the first Taiwanese celebrity to be sentenced after being caught in Taiwan's #MeToo wave, which started in 2023. Investigations revealed that in 2016, he gave a female colleague a ride home and asked to use her bathroom.

He then straddled her lap and held down her hands before molesting her and only stopped after she resisted and fought back.

On April 7, he announced his return to showbiz via social media but received backlash from netizens and Taiwanese artistes.

He cancelled his comeback and apologised on April 12, stating: "My appearance has once again aroused the anger and discomfort of many people. These emotions are real, and I have no intention of escaping the negative impact that I underestimated my appearance would bring."

Chris added that he would not appear publicly with his name anymore and would spend the rest of his life repairing the hurt he had caused.

yeo.shuhui@asiaone.com

For more original AsiaOne articles, visit here.