The account of Taemin, a member of the group SHINee, has been shut down amid reports of hacking of his YouTube channel.

Taemin‘s agency Big Planet Made explained the situation on the 16th, saying, “At around 3 AM on the 15th, we again detected hacking of our artist Taemin’s official YouTube channel. After becoming aware of the hacking, we immediately completed recovery and related measures, and on the morning of the 15th, we submitted and reported the suspected hacking ID and related materials to YouTube.”

They continued, “However, YouTube notified us today (the 16th) at around 1 PM that the channel would be deleted due to violation of the channel‘s community guidelines, and the channel is currently shut down.” They added, “We have been thoroughly maintaining security, including complex password combinations, two-step authentication, and everything we have done to prevent hacking, but an unexpected situation has occurred, and we apologize for causing inconvenience and concern to fans.”

They added, “We are currently discussing a quick solution with YouTube, and both parties will continue to communicate to quickly clarify the facts and do our best to restore the situation as quickly as possible,” and emphasized, “In this case, where Taemin’s YouTube channel is being repeatedly hacked, we will take strong legal action, such as reporting it to the police.”

● Below is the full official statement

Hello. This is Big Planet Made.

At around 3 AM on the 15th, hacking evidence was again detected on the official YouTube channel of our artist Taemin. After being informed of the hacking situation, we immediately completed recovery and related measures, and submitted and reported the suspected hacking ID and related materials to YouTube on the morning of the 15th.

However, YouTube notified us at around 1:00 PM today (the 16th) that the channel would be deleted due to violation of the channel’s community guidelines, and the channel is currently closed.

We have thoroughly implemented complex password combinations, two-step authentication, and security maintenance, and have mobilized everything we can to prevent hacking, but an unexpected situation has occurred, and we apologize for causing inconvenience and concern to our fans.

We are currently discussing a quick solution with YouTube, and we will do our best to ensure that both parties continue to communicate and quickly clarify the facts so that the situation can be restored as quickly as possible.
In addition, we will take strong legal action, such as reporting Taemin‘s YouTube channel to the police, regarding this issue where hacking attempts have been repeated.

We apologize to users who may have felt inconvenienced by the sudden situation, and we will work on restoration as soon as possible. Let’s proceed.

Thank you.

Jeon Hyo-jin, Donga.com reporter jhj@donga.com