K-netizens react to Heeseung's sudden departure from ENHYPEN

On March 10, K-pop fans, especially ENHYPEN fans, were hit with shocking news delivered by the agency.

BELIFT LAB announced that ENHYPEN would continue as a six-member group with members Jungwon, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon, Sunoo, and Ni-Ki. At the same time, Heeseung will pursue independent activities as a solo artist.

Following the announcement, Heeseung, the main vocalist of ENHYPEN, also confirmed his departure from the group, citing personal reasons. He posted a handwritten message on the fan communication platform, Weverse, and explained, "I’ve spent a lot of time on personal projects, hoping to share them with you one day. There were so many things I wanted to show, but I didn’t want to put my own desires ahead of the team."

Despite explaining that Heeseung wants to pursue solo activities, Korean netizens and fans are not convinced. Many are speculating that there must have been other reasons for the departure. Particularly, K-pop fans pointed out that Heeseung had decided to part from the group before their seven-year mark was over, even before their contract renewal period. 

They commented:

"These days, idols release solo albums without breaking up their groups… If he’s saying he doesn’t even want to do group activities at all, what’s the reason???"

"Well, if he’s been working hard and leaves after reaching some kind of agreement… what can you do. Maybe this internal situation is why their schedules kept getting messed up."

"Oh… I see… I don’t really know the details, but I just hope everyone does well."

"But isn’t he one of the core members?? This is so confusing. To me, it’s kind of like Jungkook leaving BTS or Yeonjun leaving TXT. Is there some other reason why he couldn’t just release a solo album while staying in the group?"

"Even if he was going to leave, couldn’t he at least do the fan sign events before going? lol."

"So this was the reason. When they said all the members had health issues, I wondered if it was about contract renewals or problems between the members. But from the company’s perspective, wouldn’t it have been better to finish the fan signs before the withdrawal to avoid backlash?"

"Even if he went solo, he could’ve still stayed connected to the group. Was there conflict? I guess the company wasn’t at fault after all."

"He could’ve easily done solo activities while staying in the group…"

"Wow, what is this… Fans must be shocked. Even I’m shocked…"

"He could’ve just waited and not renewed his contract. The renewal period is coming up soon anyway, so why the rush…"

"From the occasional videos I see, he seems to work really hard on stage. What happened?"

"If he’s leaving in the middle of group activities, it’s probably conflict between the members… These days idols usually do solo activities while still being in a group. He must know he’ll get a ton of hate for leaving the team, but he’s still doing it, which means he absolutely couldn’t continue group activities."

"He barely communicated with fans and always looked blank, but I ignored it, thinking 'that’s just how he is.' Sigh… selfish until the end. Now the other members will have to re-record songs and redo stage formations. They’re the ones who’ll suffer."

"You could just do both group and solo activities… why leave?"

"That’s incredibly rude to the fans."

"So this is why the video call event got delayed. They only posted an urgent notice without explaining anything, so I figured something must have happened."

"They’re not some small company group—being in ENHYPEN is basically a guaranteed success path. And he’s giving that up claiming it’s about 'musical direction'? It feels like he’s just throwing everything away. It hurts so much."
"Are they on bad terms? Maybe the tour affected it too. Wow…"

"He couldn’t even endure one more year?"

"This feels really sudden."

"He should’ve just endured until the contract renewal period. Why the rush?"

"I still can’t believe it. Leaving behind the title of being an idol from a major company just to go solo."

"Something must’ve happened for the company to approve this. Either the members didn’t get along, there was some incident, or he just didn’t want to do it anymore."

"The main vocalist is leaving? He should’ve stayed until the contract ended… I feel bad for the fans."

"Something difficult must’ve happened if he couldn’t even endure one more year."

"If it’s this sudden, there must be some kind of situation. Idols and companies can’t reveal every detail anyway…"