Idol Security Guard Exposes The Truth Behind “Unruly” And “Overboard” Guards

Things are not what they seem.

A former idol security guard has stepped forward to reveal the truth behind recent criticisms of aggressive concert security behavior. Amid growing public outrage over excessive ID checks and overly harsh treatment of fans at K-Pop events, a former guard shared his personal experience of working at an idol concert a year and a half ago. According to him, how guards treat fans is not always up to the guards themselves, but heavily influenced by the instructions given by the artist’s agency.

“I had worked as a security guard when I was younger, so about a year and a half ago, a friend asked me if I wanted to do concert security as a part-time job. I said, ‘Sure, it’s been a while,’ and worked as a security guard for a certain idol’s concert. The way we interacted with fans? It was all instructed from above. There were clear guidelines sent down: be polite to fans, don’t speak harshly, and so on — very specific instructions on how we should act.”

어릴 때 경호원 경험이 있어서 1년 반쯤 전에 지인이 콘서트 경호 알바 하겠냐고 해서 그래요 오랜만에 해보죠~ 하고 모 아이돌 콘서트 시큐를 했는데… 팬 대응 위에서 지시하는 거 맞습니다. 팬분들한테 친절하게 대할 것, 강하게 말하지 말 것 등등 세부적으로 ‘어떻게 해라’라고 지침 내려왔어요. pic.twitter.com/0lLQEjlLJA

— 정운 Jeong, Un (@coke_cloud) July 22, 2025

He mentioned that although there was some confusion on the first day of the concert—due to it being held in a newly opened venue—the fan response remained largely positive

“It was a newly built venue, so on the first day, there were some hiccups after the concert like confusion around transportation info. (And yes, there was some internal power struggle and things running a bit messily.) But because the organizers gave firm instructions to treat fans gently, there were no complaints about the security team. It might make you uncomfortable, but instead of just criticizing the security company (though that criticism is also necessary), we need to keep talking about the agencies and the artists involved.

That way, when future events or concerts happen, the companies and singers will repeatedly remind the security vendors they work with to handle things properly. People have asked me which concert it was, but I hesitated to name it directly out of concern that it might spiral into fan wars by comparing artists. But since most of you seem to already know but just lack confirmation, I’ll clarify: yes, it was Taemin’s concert held at Inspire Arena. At that time, the client (agency) even gave us sample dialogue to use when talking gently with fans. That’s how committed they were to handling things softly.”

As scrutiny grows around fan treatment at concerts, his testimony sheds light on the complex power dynamics behind the scenes—and how much influence entertainment companies hold in shaping fan experience.