Video of 'Boys II Planet' idol trainee saving taxi driver from assault goes viral

A video showing a Chinese trainee, who appeared on K-pop idol audition program "Boys II Planet," helping a taxi driver being assaulted by a drunk man went viral Saturday.

Left: A drunk man assaults a taxi driver on the streets. Right: Chinese singer Sun Heng Yu, a contestant of Mnet audition program Boys II Planet, and others are seen subduing the drunk man who assaulted the taxi driver in a video clip circulated on X. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A video showing a Chinese trainee, who appeared on K-pop idol audition program "Boys II Planet," helping a taxi driver being assaulted by a drunk man went viral Saturday.

The video footage was circulated on online forums and social media, including X, showing several people restraining an apparently inebriated man in a black jacket attacking a man presumed to be the taxi driver in front of a parked vehicle.

In another angle of the video, a young man uses a chokehold technique to subdue the attacker and stop the assault.

Netizens later identified the young man who saved the taxi driver as Sun Heng Yu, a former member of BLANK2Y and a contestant on the recently concluded Mnet program Boys II Planet.

A post by Chinese singer Sun Heng Yu, left, on his Instagram account. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Sun, a Chinese singer, debuted in 2022 with the group BLANK2Y. In 2023, he changed agencies and promoted for a year with the boy group DV.OL. He came in at 20th on "Boys II Planet" earlier this year.

After the release of the video, many netizens visited Sun’s Instagram to thank him for stopping the man from attacking the taxi driver and expressed concern over whether the singer was injured.

“I’m okay. I wasn’t hurt, so please don’t worry,” Sun wrote, confirming that he was the individual who helped the taxi driver.

BY HA SU-YOUNG [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]