SHINee's Taemin Falls Victim to YouTube Hacking Incident Again

Taemin (태민), a member of the popular K-pop group SHINee, has reportedly fallen victim to a hacking incident involving his official YouTube channel. On December 17, his agency, Big Planet Made (빅플래닛메이드), released a statement confirming that at approximately 3 AM on December 15, signs of hacking were detected on Taemin's channel. Following the discovery, the agency took immediate action to restore the channel and reported the suspicious account and related information to YouTube on the morning of the same day.

However, on December 16 at around 1 PM, YouTube notified the agency that the channel had been deleted due to violations of community guidelines, and it is currently inaccessible. The agency expressed regret over the situation, stating that they had implemented complex passwords, two-factor authentication, and stringent security measures to prevent such incidents, yet an unexpected breach occurred, causing inconvenience and concern for fans.

Big Planet Made is currently in discussions with YouTube to find a swift resolution and is committed to clarifying the facts and restoring the channel as soon as possible. They also announced plans to take strong legal action, including filing a police report, due to the repeated hacking attempts on Taemin's channel.

This is not the first time Taemin has faced such issues; he was previously targeted in September, when not only his channel but also those of other artists under the same agency, including Lee Seung Gi (이승기), BIBI (비비지), and Bad Villain (배드빌런), were compromised, with their channel names changed to 'Tesla' and subsequently deleted. The agency had reported the incidents to YouTube and managed to recover the videos at that time.

In the wake of this recent hacking incident, Big Planet Made has reiterated its commitment to taking strong measures against such cyber threats.

Meanwhile, Taemin is currently on his first solo world tour, 'Ephemeral Gaze', which began in Incheon in August. He has performed in ten cities across Asia, including Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, Tokyo, Fukuoka, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Singapore, and Manila, with the next concert scheduled for January 4 at the Studio City Event Center in Macau.