On December 14, Winter and her fellow aespa member, Karina, traveled to Shanghai, China, from Gimpo International Airport, amid previous uncertainty about Winter’s health. Despite her condition, she joined the trip to attend the fansign event planned by aespa.
However, upon their arrival in Shanghai, the atmosphere became hostile. Videos circulating online show a crowd of people gathered at Winter’s hotel, shouting offensive comments in multiple languages, including Korean, Mandarin and English. These people allegedly followed the aespa vehicle to the hotel car park, raising concerns about security breaches and the safety of the group.
The abuse is believed to stem from recent viral dating rumors involving Winter and ENHYPEN’s Jungwon. Although BeLift Lab and SM Entertainment quickly denied the rumors, they fueled an unwarranted backlash from anti-fans.
Fans strongly condemned the behavior captured in the videos, describing it as stalking and harassment. Many also pointed out that this is not the first time that AESPA members have faced such incidents while flying abroad.
Fans are wondering how private information, such as the group’s hotel details, was leaked, and are demanding that SM Entertainment take stronger measures to protect its artists.
The concerns also extended to the upcoming Fansign event, which will take place at an outdoor mall. Considering the expected large audience, fans fear for aespa’s safety during the public appearance, “Even their fansign will be in an open mall tomorrow it’s so worrying because it could happen ten times more and their safety could be at risk. The wrong people might show up, I really hope Winter is okay,” AND “I can’t imagine how girls would feel now, these people have no shame. I hope the fansign goes smoothly and they get home as soon as possible. Winter, you deserve so much better.
