Following a slew of controversies involving his private life before his debut, Seunghan of the K-pop group RIIZE has taken an 'indefinite hiatus' from the group starting Tuesday, November 22.
In a statement, his label SM Entertainment mentioned that Seunghan, 20, is "feeling severely apologetic and is reflecting on himself for causing disappointment and commotion to not only the team and members but also to fans due to issues regarding his personal life that are being leaked and circulated recently via social media and online communities."
"Seunghan feels mental pressure and responsibility regarding this, so after deep contemplation, he relayed his intention to halt activities for the team," the statement read.
"We also judged that it is too difficult for him to continue activities through this situation, and respecting his opinion of no longer wanting to cause harm to the team and members, we decided on the indefinite suspension of his activities," it added.
The label also announced that the rookie group is now slated to promote as a six-member group instead of seven.
"RIIZE will promote with six members excluding Seunghan starting today (November 22)," SM Entertainment said in a statement as translated by Korean media outlet Soompi.
안녕하세요. SM엔터테인먼트입니다. pic.twitter.com/Cwn4ig8o1g
— RIIZE (@RIIZE_official) November 22, 2023
In the same statement, the company also acknowledged the violations of privacy committed against the artist using the leaked media that were taken during his trainee days.
SM Entertainment alleges that some material has been edited as a “malicious means of creating groundless false information and messenger conversations that do not exist,” which only contributes to the additional defamation against the artist.
"We began monitoring immediately after recognizing the above situation, and we specified who was behind the unauthorized leaks and circulation after collecting a significant amount of evidence. We plan on filing a legal complaint this afternoon at the local police station," it said.
"In addition, we are considering additional legal action against the specified individual not only for defaming the artist through unauthorized leaks and circulation but also for various illegal acts such as cybercrimes and threats," it added.
Seunghan was first introduced in 2022 as part of SM Rookies, a pre-debut training program established by SM Entertainment in 2013 for their trainees who have yet to debut as idols. At that time, Seunghan together with Eunseok and Shohei were poised to join NCT.
However, the plans were scrapped and Seunghan and Eunseok debuted in RIIZE on September 4, 2023.
Since the group’s debut, anonymous sources have been coming out with rumors and allegations about Seunghan’s private life, to the extent of leaking private videos of his broadcasts live, photographs of smoking and kissing, and more controversial material.
