Concern is mounting among fans of BTS after member Jungkook sparked alarm with a now-deleted Weverse LIVE that saw him in a visibly emotional and seemingly drunk state. During the session, the singer vented about several frustrations and dropped a hint about receiving death threats, even claiming that some people “want to kill” him.
The remarks have sent shockwaves across his global fandom, triggering a wave of concern online.
Jungkook claims some people “want to kill” him
On February 26, Jungkook went live on the fan community platform Weverse. The livestream began at around 3.40am Korean time on Thursday and lasted about 88 minutes.
During the broadcast, Jungkook could be seen drinking alcohol and singing songs with friends. The broadcast, held on fan communication platform Weverse, has since been removed from the site.
Though the live session has since been taken down, a clip from the stream is gaining massive traction online, drawing widespread attention and intense discussion across social media.
In the video, Jungkook is heard saying, “Honestly, there must be a lot of people who don’t support me and don’t like me and want to belittle me…and people who want to kill me. There must be a lot of people who hate me. But so what? I don’t care.”
According to the translation by Korean news outlet The Chosun Daily, Jungkook also shared. “I don’t know what to be careful about during live broadcasts. I just want to do it comfortably. I turned it on because I wanted to do a live broadcast… I don’t care about the company anymore. I’ll just live doing whatever I want.”
He also addressed his smoking habit, something that first made headlines in 2023 after a photograph of him smoking outside a restaurant in Los Angeles went viral across social media.
As per the translation by Korean news outlet Korea JoongAng Daily, he said: “I want to talk about smoking. I don’t smoke now. But why can’t I talk about it? I’m 30 now. I quit after making a huge effort. I’d like to talk about that as well, but the moment I do, the company will make a big fuss.”
Fans express concern
Fans and social media users quickly flooded different platforms with messages of concern, with many urging him to take care of his health and well-being. Several pointed out the immense pressure he has been under as a global star.
“This Korean man translated what Jungkook said here and I’m shocked.. ‘people who want to k*** me’, he’s getting death threats??? oh my god… I’m speechless,” one wrote. Another added, “This is soo heartbreaking. I wish him happiness and safety. May his haters get the biggest karma.”
One comment read, “Jungkook getting death threats he opened up about it to us but those koreans and k-media focused on his drinking, smoking and cussing habits which is a normal thing everyone does instead of trying to protect him. my heart breaks for him.”
“The fact that NONE of the k-armys, k-netz or k-media ever talked about Jungkook getting d3@th threats says a LOT about the disgusting fan culture in that country and how normalized it must be for them,” one wrote.
Meanwhile, BTS is set to release their studio album Arirang on March 20. The group will also hold a BTS The Comeback Live Arirang show, their first global concert since completing their military service, which will stream exclusively on Netflix on March 21.