Less than three days after being announced again, RIIZE's Seunghan has now left his group. A number of Korean fans have sent 1,000 funeral wreaths for Seunghan as a form of protest. Seunghan's return has sparked debate because Korean fans have not forgotten the photo of him kissing his ex-girlfriend.
RIIZE's Seunghan controversy began before his debut because of a photo circulating of him kissing his ex-girlfriend. Seunghan still joined the debut line-up even though he eventually received criticism. He ended up taking a 10-month hiatus, before finally being announced to return to activities on October 11, 2024.
However, on October 13, 2024, SM Entertainment announced that RIIZE's Seunghan would not be joining the group and would be leaving the group. Seunghan made this decision after receiving criticism including the sending of 1,000 funeral wreaths in front of his agency building.
"At that time (discussion), Seunghan announced that he wanted to leave the group for the sake of the members and fans. We respect our artist's decision and we would like to announce that Seunghan will not be joining the group anymore, but will be stepping down. Moving forward, we will support Seunghan so that he can develop his talents and realize his dreams," SM Entertainment said in a statement.
Many K-pop fans regretted SM Entertainment's decision to kick out Seunghan because of his personal life. Seunghan finally wrote a letter of apology and expressed his regret for confusing fans. In his letter, the Siren singer said he did not want to ruin RIIZE's relationship with BRIIZE.
"I don't want to hurt or confuse the fans anymore and I don't want to hurt the members and the company any further. I want to thank the company and members who worked hard to give me another chance. And to those who have cheered me on all this time, even though I still have many shortcomings, thank you, and I apologize," Seunghan wrote.
After RIIZE's Seunghan was reported to be returning to activities, many Korean fans opposed SM Entertainment's decision. Seunghan was considered to bring a bad image to RIIZE if he continued to promote as a seven-member group. Korean fans also felt accustomed to seeing RIIZE as a six-member group.
On October 12, 2024, an eyewitness reported that RIIZE's Seunghan had seen a wreath with his name on it while leaving the SM Entertainment building. A video of Seunghan stopping for a moment in front of the wreath went viral before walking to the subway station to see a billboard of support from his fans.
"I think I met Hong Seunghan near the flower arrangements at the SM Entertainment building.... I was looking at the flower arrangements with a friend when someone walked up to me dressed like a trainee. We made eye contact, and his eyes were long and narrow. He walked slowly and looked at the flower arrangements seriously," said an eyewitness who saw Seunghan in front of the SM building.
Meanwhile, RIIZE's Wonbin wrote a letter about Seunghan's return on the Weverse platform. He said that RIIZE and SM Entertainment had a long discussion about Seunghan's return plan. The owner of the full name Hong Seunghan was originally planned to return to activities with RIIZE in November 2024.
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