Some of the largest K-pop stars flew to Japan to join one the largest water-themed summer festival, “Waterbomb,” which started in South Korea in 2015.
The popular event was known among fans for its unique concept of shooting water guns at artists and audiences amid stages.
This year, its popularity reached its neighboring country, Japan, and Korean icons such as KARA, HyunA, Sunmi, Super Junior’s D&E (Donghae and Eunhyuk) ,and former IZ*ONE Kwon Eunbi showed off their perfect summer bods on top of their charisma and idol skills.
While the festival ended smoothly, ELFs, Super Junior fans, weren’t completely happy about the event after Donghae suffered from sexual harassment by a “sasaeng” (obsessed fan) during the “2023 Waterbomb Nagoya” in Japan.
This came to fans’ knowledge when a netizen posted a video of Donghae coming down from the main stage to come closer to the audience on social media platforms.
In particular, it can be seen in the video how this “sasaeng” reached out her hand and touched Donghae’s chest. The idol who was visibly uncomfortable with it tried to move away her hands, but the fan was persistent and once again tried to touch him on his chest.
This time, Donghae tried to block it by holding her hands instead and slowly returning to the main stage.
The fan who filmed it then expressed anger and wrote:
“Please don’t touch him without his consent. He was obviously uncomfortable and you touched his chest and his fingers with your dirty fingers. Don’t you know that’s physical harassment? Stop, you need to know your boundaries as a fan.”
ELFs Criticize Fan Who Touched Super Junior Donghae Without His Consent
When the fan uploaded the video on Instagram, it drew the attention of ELFs who agreed that what the fan do was sexual assault.
They called out the fan and left comments such as:
“No, why did they do that? He must have felt really uncomfortable. Everyone knows he is very sexy and cute, but from there to touching him, respect please.”
“Donghae clearly didn’t like it and tried to refuse her hand in a polite way. But the girl kept trying to touch his chest. What a shame! Please show your polite manners to our Donghae!”
On other platforms, some internet users also commented:
- “It’s not okay to touch even if he’s a man.”
- “It’s disgusting.’
- “It’s unpleasant to watch the video even without seeing it in person.”
Meanwhile, the Waterbomb Japan will be held again in Tokyo from July 29 to 30. Artists on this day will include SHINee Taemin, EXO Chanyeol & Sehun, HyunA, Sunmi, and Kwon Eunbi.