A statement by JYP Entertainment said that Nayeon (right) felt ‘anxious’ after the unsettling encounter with Josh. — Picture from Twitter/YoshTG and Instagram/twicetagram
PETALING JAYA, Jan 2 — Nayeon of K-pop group Twice is now under police protection after a German man tried to bother her several times during a flight, the group’s agency JYP Entertainment said in a statement.
The company revealed that the man, known online only as Josh, had followed the 24-year-old singer onto a flight bound for Seoul from Japan on New Year’s Day.
“We warned the stalker several times to halt his actions, but he ignored our warnings and attempted to force his way through and raised his voice, escalating the situation with problematic behaviour.
“As a result, we will be taking the highest level of legal action available to us against (the stalker),” JYP entertainment said according to translations by K-pop news portal Soompi.
Twice fans began to worry about Nayeon’s safety after a cryptic Instagram Story of a plane window was posted to the group’s official page yesterday.
“Please return home. Please stop. Please, I’m begging you,” read the caption.
Followers of the Feel Special singers assumed that the now-deleted post was made by Nayeon during the incident with Josh on the flight.
Meanwhile, Josh has denied all accusations of being a stalker and claims that the Instagram Story was engineered by the group’s managers to paint him as a bad person.
In a series of angry tweets, he accused Twice’s managers of physically assaulting him during the flight and JYP Entertainment of conspiring against him in his attempts to get closer to Nayeon.
The 25-year-old is also shockingly candid online about his activities as a stalker.
He has even surveyed locations that Nayeon reportedly frequents and asked shopkeepers to pass his gifts and letters to her.
His main “mission” is to talk to Nayeon face-to-face and propose marriage to her.