Two Pakistani BTS fans reportedly ran away from home to meet the K-pop juggernauts

On January 11, Pakistani media outlets reported that two Pakistani teenage girls said to be fans of the K-pop group BTS reportedly ran away from home in an attempt to get to South Korea to meet the Dynamite singers.

It is reported that the two Pakistani BTS fans were 13 and 14 years of age and went missing from their home in Karachi, Pakistan, on January 7. It was later reported that they had run away from their home with the aim of going to South Korea to meet BTS.

The girls were later found safe and sent back to their parents' home.

---

Pakistani BTS fans initially thought to be kidnapped had actually planned to run away to South Korea

Two Pakistani BTS fans aged 13 and 14 years, respectively, disappeared from outside their home in Karachi. As reported by the father of 13-year-old, Mohammed Junaid, his daughter’s older friend had come over to visit while he was at home.

Presumably, his daughter’s friend had come over to stay with them. A few days later, the girls went missing from their home, and Mohammed Junaid thought they were kidnapped. He promptly lodged a police complaint with the local cops.

The police searched the younger BTS fan’s home and discovered they had been planning to go to South Korea to meet the Butter singers for quite some time by then. The police discovered train timetables and deleted Google search results along the lines of “What to avoid in South Korea?” and “What type of clothes should one wear in South Korea?”

After an extensive search by the police, the girls were found in Lahore, another city in Pakistan, in a reportedly miserable condition. Railway officials reported that the girls had disguised themselves as boys in an attempt to go unnoticed.

The girls were brought to the police station for questioning, where they revealed that because of their parents’ indifferent attitude towards their love for Bangtan, they took it upon themselves to go to South Korea to meet them.

Culture journalist Rabia Mehmood spoke to American media house CNN on the matter. She revealed that this isn't surprising as "stans" (hardcore BTS fans) of any kind are capable of indulging in such behavior for their idols.

Rabia Mehmood hopes that in the future, there will be more organized and open spaces for fans to engage with their idols and express their love for them in a healthy manner without taking such foolhardy steps.

---

BTS fans are upset with the 2023 iHeartRadio Music Awards snub

BTS earned multiple nominations at the 2023 iHeartRadio Music Awards. The septet snagged nominations in the 'Best Music Video' category for the track Yet to Come from their anniversary-anthology album Proof .

The group’s youngest member Jung Kook also bagged a solo nomination for 'Best Music Video' for his hit collab track Left and Right, featuring Charlie Puth.

Bangtan has won major awards at iHeartRadio Music Awards since 2018 including 'Best Music Video' and 'Best Fan Army', and was also nominated for 'Best Duo/Group of the Year' in 2020 and 2021.

This year, however, Bangtan was excluded from major award nominations, and that hasn’t gone down well with their fans, who believe they at least deserved to be nominated in the 'Best Duo/Group of the Year' category.

---

The 2023 iHeartRadio Music Awards will be held on March 27 at 8 pm ET (March 28 at 9 am KST). The voting period is from January 11 to March 20.