On the July 8 episode of Mnet’s entertainment show “TMI News,” the hosts and guests talked about how idols often deal with harassment from people that call or message their personal phone numbers.

Guests Kwon Hyun Bin (VIINI) and Shinhwa’s Jun Jin shared their own experiences with sasaengs, who are self-proclaimed “fans” that stalk celebrities and engage in overly obsessive behavior that invades their privacy.

Kwon Hyun Bin said, “Fans kept contacting me so I changed my phone number three times. The first time I changed to a new number, I thought that someone might find it. So I designed my profile to look like someone who sells sweet potatoes. I put up a photo of sweet potatoes and wrote, ‘Please send inquiries about purchasing.'”

He continued, “But they ended up messaging me to say, ‘How much are the sweet potatoes? I’ll buy some, Hyun Bin.'”

Jun Jin asked Kwon Hyun Bin if he’d registered the phone number under his own name. When Kwon Hyun Bin said he had, Jun Jin told him, “You shouldn’t do that. If you do, they can just keep finding it.” He suggested that Kwon Hyun Bin register the number under someone else’s name, like a family member.

“One time when I changed my number, I got a call immediately after I came outside,” Jun Jin said. “It was a fan, who said to me, ‘Congratulations on changing your number.’ I wondered, ‘What am I supposed to do?’ At the time, there was no way to reject calls.”

Kwon Hyun Bin commented, “It seems like young people do it because they’re curious but…” Jun Jin and host Jang Do Yeon empathized with him as they both said, “But it’s hard.”

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