Sasaeng Fans: Beyond Admiration

1797 Words4 Pages

You know that you have become an obsessed fan when you start to stalk celebrities everywhere. There are stalking that takes place online and offline for fans. It is a common thing for normal fans to follow celebrities on social networking sites. On the other contrary, sasaeng fans are the ones that take place offline. They will follow a celebrity all the way to their salon, shows, and house. In other words, they will follow them 24/7 if they can. In South Korea, an obsessed fan of a celebrity is referred to as a sasaeng fan. Sasaeng fans are specifically fans of K-pop (Korean-pop) celebrities. Sasaeng fans are located all over the world, but there are more noticeable in countries surrounding South Korea because they are able to travel back and forth within couple hours via airplane. There is not an established definition for ‘sasaeng fans’. However, according to many different sources compiled together, sasaeng fans are defined as fans that are extremely obsessive that interfere with the privacy of celebrities. Even worse they could physically harm celebrities just to get their attention or reactions. In Korean, ‘sa’ means private and ‘saeng’ means life. Altogether sasaeng means private life. The coined term ‘Hallyu’ in English means ‘Korean wave’ and it literally means the ‘flow of Korea’. Hallyu wave started in the late nineties with the boom of Korean dramas. People in different countries began to idolize actors and actresses in these popular dramas. K-pop has also become a sensation for music fans. The wave has affected people all over the world, and it still is. It hit the world hard, particularly in Asia over the past decade. It is still new to ... ... middle of paper ... ...ns. Sweetandtasty. “Sasaeng Fans & How They Follow K-pop Stars (KWOW #69).” Youtube, 12 Dec. 2012, Web. 8 Mar. 2014. Claim of value: With K-Pop getting bigger and bigger internationally so has the sasaeng culture and it is an important topic that the average K-popper should be aware of. Sponsor’s name: No sponsor;not reliable Usefulness: Defines sasaeng fans and gives a brief summary of what sasaeng fans have done in the past. Yim, Seung-hye. "When an Autograph Isn't Enough." Korea JoongAng Daily. JoongAng Media Network, 13 Apr. 2012. Web. 25 Feb. 2014. Claim of value: Sasaeng fans have no feelings of remorse when it comes to violating the stars’ privacy. Sponsor’s name: JoongAng Media Network; reliability based on corroboration Usefulness: Shows how the life of sasaeng fans have been affected and reveals the dark organization they work in.

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