After an absence of nearly a year, the seventh member of breakout K-pop group RIIZE is rejoining his bandmates.
RIIZE official social media account announced Shenghan They will gradually participate in selected group activities starting in November, making their highly anticipated but controversial return.
Seunghan’s breakup, which began in August 2023, stemmed from leaks of photos and videos of the young star before her debut, sparking backlash from some of South Korea’s more conservative social climates. The images showed Seunghan lying in bed with an unidentified woman and smoking, leading some fans to consider his behavior unbecoming of a K-pop idol and to demand his removal from RIIZE. In November last year, the group’s brand SM Entertainment announced that Seunghan would “suspend activities indefinitely” while reflecting on his actions, but the company did not provide a further update on the decision, which left fans and industry insiders forced to speculate about his future. .
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The controversy surrounding Seunghan’s return reflects broader tensions between K-pop artists’ global ambitions and domestic audiences’ expectations of them. RIIZE has earned international acclaim for their music and the group’s authentic approach to social media and connecting with fans – as demonstrated in advertising billboard With digital covers promoting them as “K-pop stars on the rise” since June this year, Seunghan’s situation highlights the pressure increasingly faced by international idols to uphold traditional values in a rapidly modernizing industry.
In a statement, SM Entertainment acknowledged Seunghan’s personal growth during his time away, as well as the internal considerations within the company regarding the timing of his return. While many fans will welcome his reappearance (an online petition calling for his return already has 20,000 signatures), the decision to reintegrate him into RIIZE marks a critical moment in how the group will develop its profile domestically and internationally. future development trajectory, and may affect how the K-pop industry can more smoothly deal with cultural clashes and controversies.
Seunghan followed up his statement with a handwritten letter uploaded to RIIZE’s Weverse account, in which he apologized to his fans, company and band members. The 21-year-old said he has doubts about his future as a musician, but pointed to his fellow RIIZE members Shotaro, grace stone, Chengcan, Yuan Bin, Zhaoxi and Anton Literally reaching out to him.
“Because I had caused such a huge disappointment, I continued to have more realistic thoughts, such as, ‘Will I ever be able to stand on a stage again?'” he wrote. “At that time, the members held my hand again. It must have been a very difficult decision, and I am filled with gratitude and apology for giving me another chance. I know I have a lot to express to the people who held my hand again. Of course, I’m burdened and scared by the members, the fans who are concerned that the achievements made during my absence may be tarnished, and the company making the difficult decisions.
Earlier today (October 10), RIIZE released the “KENZIE RE:WORKS” remix of their pre-release hit single “Memories,” which the septet will officially debut in September 2023 Published before.
Read the full statement below (translation provided by Soompi):
Towards glory [RIIZE’s fandom] People who love RIIZE,
Hello everyone, I am Wizard Production, responsible for the production of RIIZE. Regarding the return of member Seunghan and the direction of RIIZE’s future activities, we make a cautious statement.
Fans know that Seunghan has been on hiatus from group activities for about 10 months due to personal life issues before his debut.
Seunghan admitted that his past actions were wrong and has stopped activities for nearly a year while reflecting deeply on [on his actions] and apologized to the other members and his fans. We also realize that Seunghan’s past behavior was inappropriate as an artist, which is why we spent a long time debating the timing of his return to activities.
Since Seunghan’s activities were not announced, fans’ curiosity turned to worry and worry, and we understand this feeling. But as we continue to debate the issue from different angles, [our decision took some time]we sincerely apologize for only now informing you of our decision regarding the direction of RIIZE’s future activities.
We put all our efforts into planning before RIIZE’s debut, and we are sure that if the seven members are together, RIIZE’s next chapter will be more meaningful. Therefore, after many discussions with the staff and members about the future direction of the group’s activities, it was decided that Seunghan would return to the group. After joining the group and preparing for a period of time, we plan to let Seunghan gradually participate in some group activities scheduled in November to meet the fans again.
Even during his break, Seunghan has been working hard on improving his skills, and he has a lot to show everyone in the future, and we hope everyone will follow him enthusiastically.
We sincerely apologize once again for causing trouble and distress to fans who have been following and applauding RIIZE’s growth. However, RIIZE is a group whose goal is to rise together and realize their dreams. The members regard the group as their top priority and are working hard to practice it at this moment. [for their future activities]. We hope that everyone will trust our decision so that we can properly present RIIZE, which consists of 7 members, to our fans.
I believe many people are curious about what the next chapter of RIIZE will be, how far they will go, what dreams they have, and how they will realize these dreams in the future. Because we, as the people closest to RIIZE and also avid fans of RIIZE, are also eagerly looking forward to the next chapter of RIIZE.
In the future we will continue to work hard to repay [the fans] Share the members’ dreams with RIIZE’s wonderful music and performances. We ask that you stay with the members, share in all of their rising moments, and realize that these moments will continue to unfold in the future.
Seunghan’s Weverse letter (from Soompi):
Hello everyone, my name is Seunghan.
First of all, I would like to express my sincere apologies to the members and fans. When the pre-debut photos were released, even though they were photos of myself, I felt deeply disappointed and sorry for myself. If I feel this way myself, I can’t even imagine how the members and fans around me must feel.
You must be angry, shocked and disappointed. I am deeply sorry to the fans who have supported us at critical moments from the beginning, and to those who have been hurt by my immature behavior. I am also sorry to the members that I should be working hard to move forward with them, which caused me to suddenly stop my activities. I want to apologize to everyone who has had to endure and overcome this situation. I feel both regret for the situation and despair at not being able to be with everyone.
Because I had caused such a huge disappointment, I continued to have more realistic thoughts like, “Can I ever be on a stage again? Can I keep making music?”
During that time, the members held my hand again. This must have been a very difficult decision and I am filled with gratitude and apology for being given another chance.
I know I have a lot to show to the members who are holding my hand again, the fans who are concerned that the achievements made during my absence may be tarnished, and the company who is making difficult decisions. Of course, I feel burdened and fearful about this aspect.
But because of everyone’s trust in me, I am determined to work harder and do better.
I will work hard to be a good and responsible member and not tarnish the results that members have achieved. I want to be an indispensable member of the RIIZE team.
I would like to once again apologize to the members and company staff who made this difficult decision, as well as to the fans who were shocked. I will work more diligently and responsibly in the future.
