Earlier on October 11 KST, SM Entertainment announced plans for Seunghan to resume his activities as a member of RIIZE, over 10 months after his indefinite hiatus announcement in November of last year.
According to SM, the decision was reached based on the belief that RIIZE's next chapter "would be more meaningful if carried out as 7 members." The agency further emphasized that the members of RIIZE had wished to have Seunghan back on the team. The idol is currently scheduled to resume his group activities in November.
How did Korean netizens react to Seunghan's unexpected return?
For many, the announcement itself came as a great disappointment, as they commented,
"Wow. Okay, I'm outta here."
"Just get TF out already."
"The company is RIIZE's biggest anti."
"Stop using the other members as a shield."
"The members also made a poor decision. Their earnings will now have to be split one out of seven."
"SM just decided to toss RIIZE to the dogs."
"The group was perfect as 6-members TT."
"I'm disappointed in the members. They chose friendship over the fans."
"RIIZE became so big with 6-members in the time that he was gone. This is a dumb move."
"F*** it, I'm done."
"They kept quiet about it all this time so I had a feeling... now SM can watch 500,000 fans leaving the fandom."
"There's no such thing as a troublemaker who causes trouble only once."
Furthermore, in light of the news of Seunghan's return, some netizens looked back on exactly what "controversies" caused him to step away from promotions in the first place.
One incident consisted of leaked photos of Seunghan with an alleged girlfriend from his trainee days, including a photo of him and his girlfriend at a hotel. In two other instances, the RIIZE member was captured smoking a cigarette while roaming the streets, showing irresponsibility for public smoking laws.
Looking back on the past incidents, netizens said,
"People don't change. He's just gonna get in trouble again sooner or later."
"If he went around dating girls and smoking on the streets as a trainee, what do you think he'll start doing once he's rich and famous? Nothing good."
"And here I thought SM had changed with the Taeil incident and all. Nope, they're still just as rotten."
"Ewww, even if he were just a random guy I knew, I wouldn't want to have anything to do with him."
"If they really want to be in a team with this guy, that means all the RIIZE members are of the same breed."
"Feeling so sorry for RIIZE fans... their path to success was cut short just like that."
"Do people who still like him have no dignity? It's obvious that his character is trash."
"Now I know for sure that the company, him, and the other RIIZE members all think of fans as brainless fools."
"Let this one off the hook and the next thing you know, the idol industry is filled with dirtbags."
"Seriously just get the hell out."
"RIIZE was about to be so big... but now it's all ruined."
Meanwhile, many other K-Pop fans around the globe demonstrated opposing reactions to the news of Seunghan's return, celebrating the completion of RIIZE as 7 once again.
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