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RIIZE's Seunghan, the rookie K-pop idol, has garnered a lot of attention for the controversies that have surrounded him in recent days. The 22-year-old idol's comment about LE SSERAFIM's Eunchae was mistranslated and this was followed by old pictures of him smoking resurfacing on the internet. The consistent pile-up of controversies and scandals has concerned many netizens and RIIZE's fans.
As the pile-up of controversies continued SM Entertainment, the agency housing RIIZE's Seunghan, made a statement announcing his indefinite hiatus. The idol also released a handwritten letter apologizing to his fans for his past behavior.
It was announced that the hiatus would elongate until RIIZE's Seunghan felt comfortable enough to resume his schedule. Meanwhile, fans also speculated if the hiatus will snowball into the idol's departure from the group.
All 4 controversies revolving around RIIZE's Seunghan that eventually led to his indefinite hiatus
1) Leak of Seunghan's alleged couple photos with his former girlfriend
In August 2023, RIIZE's Seunghan was hit with the first controversy. At the time, pictures of him k*ssing an alleged former girlfriend were leaked by an anonymous social media account.
After they saw the pictures, some fans criticized him for the same. Others believed this was due to the maintained tradition of fans being against K-pop idols dating.
There were also accusations of the idol supposedly taking his former girlfriend, who was underage when the pictures were taken, to a hotel. However, these speculations weren't confirmed. Fans also came to his defense stating that he, as a human, is allowed to have love interests and engage in relationships.
2) Seunghan allegedly badmouthing LE SSERAFIM's Eunchae in a private Instagram livestream
A recent controversy that shocked fans was the leak of an old private Instagram live collaboratively hosted by TXT's Soobin and RIIZE's Seunghan on November 16. While fans were surprised by the unexpected friendship, their celebrations were soon bashed by a mistranslation that surfaced on the internet. While the idol was talking to Soobin and jokingly mocking him, he also brought in LE SSERAFIM's Eunchae to refer to the time Soobin co-MCed with her.
To this Soobin, pointed the middle toe of his right leg, as though he was cursing Seunghan. However, a mistranslation seemed to state that he and Soobin were rather badmouthing LE SSERAFIM's Eunchae. Though the controversy was soon settled after the translation was proven to be wrong, the idol received a lot of hate and criticism from LE SSERAFIM's fans.
3) Leak of Seunghan's alleged smoking pictures and videos
The day after the leak of the private live stream with Soobin, another anonymous X account leaked an old picture and video of Seunghan holding a lit cigarette close to his lips. The idol received a lot of criticism for the picture and video, which snowballed into RIIZE's Seunghan being blasted with hate comments.
However, fans continued to showcase their support towards him and stated that his personal habits shouldn't be debated or discussed. They also expressed that the idol is the victim in this situation since his privacy is constantly breached.
4) Seunghan's former friend exposing the idol's pre-debut discriminatory behavior to his fellow trainees
Soon after the smoking controversy, an alleged former friend of RIIZE's Seunghan shared a series of Instagram stories discussing the idol's pre-debut activities and behavior. The friend stated that the idol used to smoke and drink alcohol on the streets and also did Instagram live streams without his company's knowledge.
They also mentioned that RIIZE's Seunghan was discriminatory towards his fellow trainees, and allegedly engaged with female trainees from other K-pop entertainment agencies. However, these speculations weren't confirmed and still continue to stand as speculations without any evidence backing them up.
SM Entertainment's announcement of Seunghan's indefinite hiatus
As these controversies continued to garner a lot of negative attention towards RIIZE's Seunghan, his agency, SM Entertainment released a statement. They said that the idol would be going on an indefinite hiatus. They also stated that RIIZE will continue as a six-member group from November 22, 2023, until Seunghan's return. SM Entertainment also denied the accusations made against the idol. Calling the accusations baseless, the agency said that they will be taking legal action against the prosecutors on charges of defamation and cyberbullying.
Seunghan's handwritten apology letter to fans
Following SM Entertainment's statement, the idol released a handwritten letter through his Weverse account. The letter expressed his apologies to RIIZE's fans for the concerns and disappointment he's caused. He expressed that he will be taking some off to reflect on his past actions and return to the industry when the time seems fitting.
While both SM Entertainment and RIIZE's Seunghan label it as a hiatus, fans are afraid that he will be kicked out of the group since he was removed from RIIZE's official Instagram account highlights.
Apology letter from Seunghan's former friend
Soon after SM Entertainment's statement, an anonymous X account named @dzxr_drxzm shared an apology statement. It is worth noting that this was the same account that shared the information on Seunghan's supposed discriminatory behavior during his pre-debut period. They expressed their regret about spreading false rumors about the idol and also deleted all their posts defaming RIIZE's Seunghan.
While it's hard not to anticipate the worst given the worsening conditions of Seunghan's stance in RIIZE, fans send love and support to the idol, promising to wait until his return to the industry.
