Mark is facing backlash after his 26th birthday treasure hunt event ran into big trouble.
On August 2, Mark set up a fan event hiding 26 personal items and stickers across three public spots in Seoul—Jamwon Han River Park, Seoul Forest, and Namsan Park near the Seoul City Wall Trail. Maps were shared for fans to find the stickers starting at 9 AM.
The controversy began when fans showed up early, only to find public workers already cleaning up the areas.
Staff revealed SM Entertainment hadn’t coordinated the event with the venues. One worker said,
“under the hot weekend weather,” they had to “prevent the event from happening” and called the planners “out of their minds for damaging cultural property.”
Fans tried asking staff to contact Mark’s agency, but the staff said,
“that was ridiculous,” adding they did “not even know the phone number or any other details.”
Announcements were made over loudspeakers, and public workers collected and threw away all the stickers from the first location.
The hunt continued at the other two sites where fans found most of the stickers. However, it was later revealed the stickers were not removable and left marks on public property.
Despite the issues, SM Entertainment didn’t apologize. Instead, they posted this update:
“Congratulations! All clear! Mark’s 26 treasures were all discovered as of 12:58pm, so we are letting you know that the event has ended. Thank you for participating in the ‘Found & Marked’ event despite the heat. Have a Happy Mark Day!”
Netizens reacted with shock and anger online, slamming SM for reckless planning and ignoring cleanup responsibilities.
Comments from fans included:
“Are they out of their minds????”
“This is insane..”
“Such a huge inconvenience. What’s wrong with them? No one’s even apologizing—so rude.”
“I don’t even understand why they’d plan a treasure hunt outdoors in this heat to begin with, and the lack of prior coordination is just absurd.”
“It’s like they didn’t even have the bare minimum of common sense before going through with this…”
“Remove the stickers completely and apologize to the management.”
“Wait—these weren’t even clean-removal stickers…? I didn’t even think they’d overlook something that basic.”
“SM should go clean up all the sticker residue themselves—what a public nuisance.”
“SM, are you out of your minds? You carried this out without coordination and even damaged property.”
“They should be fined and made to pay for the damage to public property.”
Fans criticized the decision to run an outdoor event during hot weather without approval or preparation. Many called it an embarrassment for the agency and an inconvenience for the public.
The incident is currently drawing heavy heat online, with many demanding SM Entertainment issue a sincere apology and handle the damage caused.
What do you think about SM’s handling of Mark’s birthday treasure hunt?
