A K-pop group named RIIZE debuted under SM Entertainment in September 2023. This group originally consisted of 7 members: Shotaro, Eunseok, Sungchan, Wonbin, Sohee, Anton, and Seunghan. As of October 13th, 2024, Seunghan is no longer a part of the group, turning RIIZE into a group with only 6 members compared to the beginning 7. Although many fans are upset about Seunghan leaving the group, fans in South Korea are quite happy about this outcome.
Hong Seunghan is a 21 year old who had dreamed of being an idol. After he debuted in RIIZE in 2023, he was soon later put on a hiatus for the unforeseen future not only 2 months after achieving his dreams. He was put on hiatus because of the experiences he had before becoming an idol. Fans in Korea were livid over the information that was leaked, which was that he had a girlfriend in the past and he was also seen smoking cigarettes. After this information came out, their Korean fans (also known as K-fans), were outraged and made many complaints to the company. Due to the amount of hate received, Seunghan was put on an indefinite hiatus from the group, meaning he would be restricted from group activities for an unknown amount of time. Comparing the time he was active in the group and when he was on hiatus, Seunghan had been on hiatus for longer than when he was doing activities in RIIZE.
After the 10 month hiatus, Seunghan came back on October 10th, releasing a letter on an app called Weverse, an app for fans to interact with celebrities further with posts, photos, and comments. One of the lines reads, “I will continue to reflect and look deeper into myself so that I can become a better person.” Fans all around the world were very happy about his return, waiting and hoping for his comeback. Yet despite the happy responses from international fans, K-fans were still upset. They were so upset that they sent 1,000 funeral wreaths to the company building in protest. Some of the wreaths read: ”RIIZE IS 6! HONG SEUNGHAN OUT!” Sending funeral wreaths implies that they believe Seunghan is dead to them. After this event occurred, international fans were discontent with the actions of K-fans, saying that the wreaths are death threats and an endangerment to the artist’s mental health.
Only 2 days after his return, Seunghan releases another letter, but this time it states that he will be leaving the group permanently. One of the lines reads, ”I sincerely do not wish for the relationship between RIIZE and BRIIZE [RIIZE fan name]… to deteriorate because of me.” Due to all the severe hate that he, the company, and the group received, he says that he believes everyone would be better off if he were to leave.
Following this outcome, fans internationally were infuriated with the behavior of K-fans and the company which did not protect their artist. As a collective, fans have started to protest in an attempt to get better rights for idols. They say that this situation shows that entertainment companies are not doing what they can to protect their artists. Fans should not be able to bully idols and get away with it, letting their influence change the trajectory of a person’s career. Originally, it started as hashtags on X (formerly Twitter) and spreading awareness about Seunghan in an attempt to bring him back. Now, even K-pop stores worldwide are participating in the protests by reducing and halting their purchases and promotions of RIIZE products in their stores. A local K-pop store in Capitol Hill named KpopNara, has taken part in this as well. Fans hope that this will open the eyes of SM Entertainment to the fans internationally, not just the fans in South Korea. There is a change.org petition that was made by fans on October 13th, which has just reached 309,000 signatures (approximately), with a goal of 500,000 signatures in total. As a result, SM Entertainment announced that they would sue the people spreading hate about Seunghan and the group, but some fans don’t consider this to be enough for the damage that has been done to the group and to Seunghan.
Although idols are being paid to be in their position, for some it has been a life-long dream to be able to perform on stage. These fans in Korea are taking away the dreams of people who have worked very hard and aren’t allowing people to live their own individual lives. It’s important to realize that K-pop idols are people too and should be treated with equal respect which you would want to be treated with. If you are interested in supporting Seunghan and other artists against the unrealistic expectations of fans and the K-pop industry, you can sign this online petition and donate money as well with the following link. The money goes to spreading more awareness and funding protests around the world.
Update as of November 14th, 2024
SM Entertainment has announced that Seunghan is going to debut later in 2025 as a soloist. This is the first announcement that SM Entertainment has posted in English, signaling fans to think they are targeting the international fans who are boycotting RIIZE and the company currently. People believe that this is to stop the boycott and to satisfy fans in America before the K-pop awards show, MAMA, where fans have been planning on protesting. Below is the official statement made by SM Entertainment.
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