() — Two teenage girls reported missing in Pakistan last week were found more than 1,200 kilometers from their home after trying to travel to South Korea to meet K-pop band BTS, police in the South Asian country said.
The two girls, aged 13 and 14, went missing on Saturday from Korangi in the city of Karachi, said Abraiz Ali Abbasi, the area’s police superintendent.
During a search of their homes, police found a diary that revealed their plans to travel to South Korea to meet with BTS, Abbasi said in a video statement.
“In the newspaper we saw mentions of train schedules and that they had been planning to elope with another friend of theirs… whom we later interviewed,” Abassi said.
“We started aggressively tracking them down and found out they were in police custody in the city of Lahore, where they had traveled by train.”
Abbasi said arrangements have been made for the girls to be brought back to Karachi in coordination with the police in Lahore.
The superintendent called on parents to “monitor their children’s screen time” so that they are more aware of what their children see online.
“It’s not a surprise that two teenagers took this risk because ‘stans’ are capable of doing this for their idols,” said culture journalist Rabia Mehmood, using a colloquial term for loyal fans. “But if we had safer and more organized spaces for younger fans they could talk openly and freely with each other about their favorites instead of taking such risks.”
Seven-member Korean boy group BTS went on hiatus late last year as its oldest member began mandatory military service last month. Jin, 30, began his military service on December 13, an engagement that is expected to last 18 months.
BTS will stay apart until at least 2025, when other members of the group reach the age of majority to enter military camps. The band has said that they will use this time to pursue solo projects.
