Peeing, pooping and fighting in mosh pit? Chaos ensues at Hanteo Music Awards in Seoul

The 31st Hanteo Music Awards (HMA) saw a shocking turn of events which spiraled into chaos.

The awards show, which recognises the best artists and recordings based on the Hanteo chart for the year, was a two-day event which started on Saturday (Feb 17) and was held at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul, South Korea.

The HMA boasted a star-studded line-up this year, with K-pop groups such as NCT, Aespa, Zerobaseone and Ateez in attendance.

In videos posted by multiple users on social media platform X, the mosh pit was seen to be very closely packed with people pushing and shoving to get closer to their favourite idols on many occasions.

This resulted in a commotion which caught the attention of Ateez members Hongjoong and Mingi as well as the members of Aespa, who looked extremely concerned.

The two groups were seated to the side of the main stage with the mosh pit in front of them, giving them a clear view of what was happening on the floor.

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An X user who went by @woongsrose said: "It got really messy. People near me were getting pushed, I also almost fell."

One of the clips posted to X showed Mingi crouching at the edge of the platform and telling fans to move back, while another showed Hongjoong stepping off to the side to speak to security staff regarding the matter.

The members of Aespa were also spotted motioning for fans to move back.

One-man protest

According to some Korean X users, the commotion in the mosh pit worsened as a result of someone starting a one-man protest against Kim Ji-woong, a member of boy group Zerobaseone.

In a video of the group's performance, an audience member was heard shouting "Kim Ji-woong, withdraw from the group! Leave! Please do it!"

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A fan of Zerobaseone allegedly slapped this person in retaliation and a fight broke out.

This supposedly caused other audience members in the mosh pit to push others away to distance themselves from the fight.

Recently, a fan accused Ji-woong of swearing at her after ending an online fanmeeting call. This continues to bother the general public and some fans of the boy group, despite statements from his agency company and himself denying the incident.

Party pooper

Another allegation was also made by Korean users who claimed to be present at scene: a fan had supposedly pooped while in the mosh pit.

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A user by the username @twtitfordori wrote: "Someone pooped in the standing area near the waiting area for the singers… They said that a security guard came to check and they confirmed that it was poop."

Another user posted a picture of the standing area in question and confirmed that security had checked and said that there was faeces on the floor.

"They said they can't clean it up and there's nothing they can do... I was really nauseous while filming and almost died," the user added.

These poop allegations sent social media into a frenzy, with K-pop fans creating memes of idols looking shocked and disgusted while at the event.

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Netizens went even wilder when an X user claimed to be the responsible party and apologised for the inconvenience caused, though some questioned the truthfulness of the confession and cracked jokes while others expressed sympathy for the user. 

User @woongsrose was one of those who questioned these allegations and the confession.

The user insisted that any shocked or "disgusted" expressions made by the idols present at the show were due to the overcrowding in the mosh pit.

"There was no smell, at least not where I stood. All of the idols were shocked about the crowd because people fell and shouted...

"A lot of people near me kept saying they wanted to go home. It was just a messy situation in general," the user added.

To top off all of the bizarre incidents, multiple users also alleged that a younger audience member had peed on the floor of the mosh pit before the awards show began.

bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com

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