RIIZE Renege for Seunghan's comeback, K-Pop Star to leave group in shock announcement

Less than 48 hours later RISE announced that it would welcome back the seventh member Seunghan after a controversial 10-month hiatus, the decision was reversed in a shocking about-face.

On Sunday (October 13), two managers under Wizard Production — the management division under K-pop label SM Entertainment responsible for RIIZE — shared the news that Seunghan will be leaving the boy band for good. According to the letter from Kim Hyeong-guk and Lee Sang Minnews of the comeback was to “give more joy to the artist and the fans” before, “we realized that our decision had really hurt the fans more and caused them more confusion.”

While some fans celebrated the comeback, others protested the decision by surrounding SM Entertainment's local headquarters in Seoul with funeral wreaths – an increasingly common but disturbing move by K-pop fans looking to make a bold statement, the which was also recently used by his likes BTS fans and New Jeans.

“Seunghan has consistently expressed his desire to leave the group for the sake of the members and fans,” Wizard Production added. “Out of respect for the artist's decision, we are announcing Seunghan's departure from RIIZE, rather than joining the group.”

The announcement included a promise that “We will support Seunghan in the future so that he can showcase his talents and follow his dreams,” seemingly indicating that he will remain signed to SM Entertainment. (At the time of posting, Seunghan is still listed as a member of RIIZE on SM official website as it was during its hiatus.)

Seunghan followed up with a handwritten letter posted on RIIZE's Weverse account, where he still has an active account as a member of the group, to explain his decision to leave.

“After thinking deeply about whether I'm only thinking too much about myself, whether I'm causing too much harm to the members and the company, and whether it's really okay for me to be a member of RIIZE, who should be loved, I only felt worried and apologetic,” the 21-year-old wrote . “So I think my departure from the team is the right way for everyone. I don't want to cause any more harm or confusion to the fans, and I don't want to hurt the members any more, and I also don't want to hurt the company any further.”

Seunghan added that he didn't want to cause tension or infighting among fans.

Previously, on October 11, RIIZE's social media accounts announced that Seunghan will “gradually” rejoin the act starting in November, citing “many discussions with staff and members regarding the direction of the group's future activities ». He also greeted fans in a letter, writing, “The members held my hand once again. I'm just filled with gratitude and apologies for giving me another chance.”

Strangely enough, a member of RIZE Wonbin had addressed fans directly about Seunghan's comeback just hours before the twist was announced — until her removal.

Writing on Weverse, Wonbin seemed to feel intimidated by some fans. “I'm worried that you guys will have more trouble and get confused if the members don't say a word or react to anything, so, I'm writing this after organizing the discussions we had with the members,” the 22-year-old wrote. “I'm sure many of you wondered whether or not Seunghan was coming back much, or why there wasn't a clear answer earlier… we, Seunghan and the company, really talked about it for a long time. “

As Seunghan mentioned in his first letter to fans after his comeback was announced, Wonbin emphasized that the decision came from RIIZE.

“I hope you realize that the members have thought about this together over and over again, taking this into consideration deeply,” Wonbin wrote. “I've always wanted to make all BRIIZErs happy, but I'm sorry I can't do it… I know this post won't be able to erase all your worries, but I hope it can ease your confusion, even just a little.”

Wonbin's post was deleted from RIIZE's Weverse account after Seunghan's departure was confirmed. See a screenshot of the removed post and a translation, from a social media account dedicated to sharing RIIZE's Weverse activities.

Seunghan's controversies started before RIZE's official debut. Since August 2023, the young singer has been dealing with the fallout from leaked photos and videos ahead of his debut that sparked backlash in some of South Korea's most conservative social circles. The images showed Seunghan in bed with an unknown woman and smoking a cigarette, which some fans called inappropriate for a K-pop idol, demanding that he leave the group. Last November, SM Entertainment announced that Seunghan would be “ceasing activities indefinitely” with no new news from the company's top fans, media and industry insiders who were forced to speculate about RIIZE's future .

Read RIZE's full statement below from Wizard Productions (with translation provided via Soompi):

Hello, this is Wizard Production.

First, we sincerely apologize for hurting BRIIZE [RIIZE’s fandom] and causing confusion through our announcement of Seunghan's comeback on October 11th.

We are deeply sorry for prioritizing the position of Wizard Production, instead of making the growth that the six members of RIIZE achieved while working hard our top priority. the support of BRIIZE, which has been RIIZE's biggest source of strength during this journey. and the preciousness of the times RIIZE and BRIIZE have spent together.

We made this decision after discussing it for a long time because we believed that if Seunghan came back after thinking about his past mistakes and RIIZE showed another level of growth as a group, we could give the artist and the fans more joy.

However, with the announcement of his comeback, we carefully reviewed each of the opinions and responses sent by fans and realized that our decision had actually hurt fans more and caused them more confusion.

At the same time, Seunghan has consistently expressed his desire to leave the group for the sake of the members and fans.

Out of respect for the artist's decision, we are announcing Seunghan's departure from RIIZE, instead of joining the group.

We will support Seunghan in the future so that he can showcase his talents and follow his dreams.

Above all, we also sincerely apologize for causing hardship and confusion to the six members who, since their debut, have always given their all while thinking of the fans and who made today's RIIZE possible by thinking and working harder than anyone else in every dot.

We will continue to do our best to support RIIZE members to grow even further in the future.

Wizard Production will be careful and careful in all matters in the future, and we will work hard to make RIIZE and BRIIZE happy together for a long time.

– Wizard production directors Kim Hyeong Guk, Lee Sang Min

Read Seunghan's full letter below (with translation provided via Soompi):

Hello, this is Seunghan.

I know that many people took seriously the issue of my return to my activities, and I know the seriousness of the current situation.

After thinking deeply about whether I am only thinking about myself too much, whether I am causing too much harm to the members and the company, and whether it is really okay for me to be a member of RIIZE, who should be loved, he felt anxious and apologetic.

So I believe that my departure from the team is the right path for everyone.

I don't want to cause any more harm or confusion to the fans, and I don't want to hurt the members anymore, and I also don't want to further hurt the company.

I would like to thank the company and the members, who tried to give me another chance, and I am also sorry and thank the people who cheered me on all this time despite my many shortcomings.

I really don't want the relationship between RIIZE and BRIIZE, who grew up together while supporting each other, to be destroyed because of me. It also breaks my heart to see the fans, for whom it should be more than enough to just love RIIZE, fight with each other because of me.

I will sincerely cheer for RIIZE, who I love, while I hope they get more love in the future.