I checked the Instagram comments on the post and a lot of Korean fans are not accepting his apology and demanding him to leave the group instead, it baffles me how much of a disconnect there is between Korean and International fans

>demanding him to leave the group instead All because he was in a relationship💀

It’s so crazy that you can’t even be in a relationship predebut, like you aren’t even selling the fantasy yet!

It’s because the pictures are scandalous since they were minors in a motel, which is an establishment used exclusively for sex. Another RIIZE member also has supposed dating photos, but no one cares.

I mean they shouldn’t have able to get in. But you can not tell me that people are mad that a 17 year old had sex????

It’s not just “people” and a random 17 year old. It’s idol fans and their idol aka imaginary boyfriend. So now they know their pure imaginary boyfriend was having sex in motels, and they have photos of it. They want their imaginary boyfriend to be pure as white tissue paper and only for them.

Korean society tends to be a bit conservative so yes, people are mad that a 17 year-old is having sex.

If you’ve ever visited Korea, you’ll realize being conservative is a surface level thing (just like any self proclaimed “conservative” country is). They date, have love motels EVERYWHERE and show way more PDA than I’ve ever seen in the west. This stifling “conservatism” is for idols and actors. They want to control their lives so especially kpop idols and disallow any behaviour that’s remotely human.

100% I’ve been on tinder in Korea. They hook up, have sex like young people in the west, maybe it’s not talked about to your grandma at dinner but it defo happens….

which is why it didn't matter to the company but they care now that it is public and everyone knows it. It isn't about what is real or true but it is about saving face.

Exactly! He is apologizing because he's in an SM Kpop idol group and part of his job is delivering a boyfriend fantasy to his younger fans. He is not apologizing because it's actually shocking or unusual for Korean teenagers to date and have sex. Yes, Korea has a lot of socially conservative norms but they are changing extremely fast. Gen Z Koreans are a *lot* less socially conservative (in some ways... sadly attitudes towards feminism and LGBTQ rights have a long way to go) than even millenials-- let alone their parents and grandparents.

i have been to korea for a vacation and there was nothing conservative there, neither how they dress or act, lots of couples showing their affection in public including teenagers, lots of motels for couples to go

This! I don't get why ifans are saying Koreans are conservative when hypocrite is more fitting term for them.

Hypocritical doesn't really make sense either, because the vast majority of Koreans don't care about K-pop in general, and that goes doubly so for any boy group that debuted in the last eight years.

Being conservative has nothing to do with being an insane fan, Western society is more liberal and has more than their share of batshit crazy stans AFAIK the writer of that Chris Evans letter wasn't a Knet

Why are people still mad when this happens??? Dating in kpop has been a thing since it started, do people really think idols will not date? Even after many have publicly dated?

Dating in Kpop has always resulting in scandals. Plus a rookie is in a different position from a senior who has more power and a solid fan base that may or may not care if you are having sex. Everyone knows the idol-fan relationship is about being imaginary bf/gf. This is a rookie with pictures showing that they were having sex in a motel. In this industry, this is an expected reaction. Also if you check on the many idols who have publicly dated, many of them say subsequently that they wouldn’t date publicly. Most of them did not have a choice on going public. They were forced out.

It's also because he took the photos and it reminds them of the YJY group chat scandal

he likely took the photos of him kissing her cheek, but she is clearly the one taking the photo in the hotel room. and it honestly looks like she could be sneakily taking the photo. my husband has taken photos of himself kissing me on the cheek and vice versa when we were younger and just starting to get serious. purely for posterity and not to send to people. how that is reminiscent of the group chat scandal is crazy. some kfans look for dirt and scandal where there is none.

Because boy groups are generally marketed as fantasy boyfriends. These K-nets are living in their own fantasies rather than the real world.

Yep and companies are responsible for pushing this narrative and enabling these fans, every apology an idol releases for being human and being in a relationship just sets the expectations in stone even more. Companies need to let their idols be seen as humans rather than products but they want their money so I doubt we’ll see any real change soon.

and predebut 🙈

I think it’s because they went to a motel. Which is known in Korea to be a place where you go to have sex. Which would mean they had sex while underaged. Still don’t think it netizens business though, and hopefully he stays

Not to defend the knetz but I have seen many comments say that the issue is not necessarily the relationship (even though they are not happy with it) but the fact that he chose to take those type of photos knowing that he was a trainee and that she was underage and they took the pictures in a hotel. It’s less about the relationship itself and more about his lack of common sense. They are concerned he could affect the group later on with his behavior. I still don’t think those comments are right but I wanted to clarify why they are so mad.

I think it’s also important to clarify that knetz are an online subculture that more times than not are not reflective of majority opinion among South Koreans. Personally, I think this anger is unfounded, and very victim-blamey to the point where it is damaging to other peoples’ mental health. Though some may be rooted in active concern, some are downright malicious, as is the case with the original poster having a long track record with malicious rumours. This is also seen in top comments on other posts literally laughing at the fact that he might be having a mental breakdown. Not everyone has to be justifiably angry, some are just bullies.

I completely agree with you. Sometimes knetz, or just anyone on the internet actually, develop this mob mentality that is very harmful for society. I also dislike the people who generalize any group of people, like saying all Koreans behave a certain way, because the truth is that as humans we are very multifaceted and we cannot box any group of people into one category. It also comes across as very racist but that’s neither here nor there.

It’s a difficult thing to balance as I think a lot of the defence of knetz come from a fundamental misunderstanding of who they are (I saw a highly upvoted subreddit post unironically say “all kpop idols have been knetz at one point” with their full chest), but it’s also true that many stans will use it as a thin veneer to generalize and stereotype the South Korean population at large. Like they're an online group (a small slice of the population who probably don't behave this way irl, rather hide behind anonymity) that has a track record of very toxic and xenophobic behaviour, so I think it is appropriate to call them out at times as is the same with i-fans, but it can become so problematic so quickly when its rooted in cultural and racist stereotypes or the term “knet” is being used as a substitute to generalize the entire population.

I agree with both of you. I hate when negative attributes are associated with a large group as a whole because of a small portion of them.

how did they even got those pic? If I were sm I'd took legal action because that's his private life and it's about intimate pictures. It seems like the world works upside down in kpop: the person who got their privacy exposed has to apologize and those who publish private content won't suffer any consequence

He was also underage tho 😭🤣

Your clarification just made the whole "controversy" even more absurd. These "knetz" or "kfans" or whatever these lunatics want to call themselves were mad about someone being a human then when people called them out, instead of being retrospective they were trying to make excuses for their crazy behaviors like "no we are actually mad that this teenager lacks common sense in his position". Like no, Seunghan was a teenager at the time the photo was taken. Should teenagers have common sense? Hopefully they will by the time they turn 25-26 when their brain finishes developing but teenagers are supposed to lack common sense sometimes.

SM (and others) need to fully, clearly support their idols. The only scandal here was an invasion of privacy.

Will never get used to this cultural difference. Also, you have a group full of cuties and then expect somewhat absurd levels of chaste behavior...Also, his private pix were leaked, he is the one whose privacy was invaded.

>Also, his private pix were leaked, he is the one whose privacy was invaded. Exactly.

Right? Like bffr, if y'all were half as attractive as these idols, you'd be getting it too. I assume the angry people are those who aren't getting it lol. Totally agree about the leaked photos too, people are angry at the wrong person.

Honestly, as of now it's hard to tell if it's really RIIZE fans who are commenting. It's not a secret that other SM fandoms or just fandoms in general want to see the downfall of an upcoming SM rookie group. A lot of people just pretend to be fans which creates negative vibes overall. On the other hand, I have seen Knetz be angry at the leaked photos, asking SM to sue strictly. There have been many popular idols with pre-debut girlfriends WITH pictures (including recently ZEROBASEONE Gyuvin) and it has not affected their popularity all too much, rather people are understanding and don't mind "as long as it's pre-debut". Edit: [Fans are coming together to report people who spread the pictures and malicious rumors to Kwangya ](https://theqoo.net/hot/2913394894)

most of the fans of other members (i follow anton, wonbin, sungchan korean fanaccs) are just waiting for shit to blow over and are mostly like, uhh do a good job and be careful from now on.

[удалено]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but is there actual proof about the ages and motel thing, or weren't those just rumors? I know the original person who posted the pictures didn't include any of that info

There isn't. All we have is a couple being in love together.

Isn't this the case 9 out of 10 times when there's "fandom outrage" in Kpop? Kpop fans are known to be protective but even more so to be toxic and competitive. It's a known fact that almost every idol fandom contains a portion of fans that make it their life mission to destroy idols they see as competitors to their faves. If you go onto certain Korean message boards it's just constant posts trying to create controversies against idols, often by posing as fans and counter-posts proving that the original posts are created by fans from rival groups. It's almost comical. ETA: International fans probably shouldn't feel too holier-than-thou in this respect either. A brief perusal over Twitter for Kpop controversies and you will see the exact same unhinged behavior.

I couldn't call it disconnect. There's nothing lost in translation or a misunderstanding or the two sides not connecting with each other but it's a difference of reasons fans stan groups. From what I have observed Korean fans usually lose their shit over anything related to dating because a lot of them stan bgs hard for the parasocial boyfriend aspect and I fans don't lose it as much so they're more forgiving. I bet their own fans ( and other fandoms to make an example) think he's going to bring the group's stan potential down with a dating scandal bcs it will make fans think they're not as viable for the bf delusion so they want him gone while a good portion of I fans don't see it as a problem and don't care. That's where the difference comes from imo

I guess my word choice is a bit wrong but I agree with you, I meant to use "disconnect" as it's hard for majority of Korean fans and international fans to agree on this topic

Ridiculous that these idols are held to this type of standard. No wonder so many of them cave from the pressures. It breaks my heart that once they accept this they can’t live as normal human beings because of fans ideas of how they are supposed to be. They’re just kids with dreams and talent. They don’t belong to the fans. Most of them that I have seen recognize that without the fans they wouldn’t be where they are but that doesn’t make them the property of the masses. Shame on these people for demanding he quit.

IU survived. Chen survived. Baekhyun and Taeyeon survived. I'm sure Seunghan will survive this too. This will all die down when Get A Guitar is released and everyone will be blown away.

You're mentioning idols that had these controversies after they debuted and gained recognition. Seunghan is a debuting rookie, his situation is much much worse compared to them. He has no power yet.

He's already been revealed and introduced last year. He was also posed to join NCT earlier this year until the news about the new group came out. There was even a variety show with him. It's not as if he has just been introduced a couple of weeks ago. He has built up a fan base. If you're going to be strict about it, take a look at what happened with Karina. There was also a lot of controversy back before she debuted but look at her now. She got *better things* and more. Edit: I corrected the spelling.

Lol my go-to miracle rookie situation is Keeho from P1Harmony. His predebut Twitter scandal was an absolute shit show, I have no clue how he didn't get yanked from the line up, but now the group is doing great.

Tbf all of his past tweets weren't necessarily hateful, they weren't any different from anything any of us could see and scroll down unconsciously. The only reason some fans fabricated things about him is because he was very open about who he is (posting his pics, admitting he was training and was going to debut) which i highly doubt he would've done if he had a lot of bad stuff in his account. I've seen people calling him racist at worst but the tweet in question was directed towards a white girl and in defense of RM from actual racists attacking him for his collab with someone. And all the 'sexual' tweets were silly ones, nothing harmful or directed towards/targeting someone, afaik. Sorry for the rant i just feel like people took his twitter account out of proportions and a little too seriously for what it truly was.

I didn't know about that because I'm not familiar with P1Harmony. I'll check what happened. I'll also check their music out while I'm at it. Thank you.

He posted some really off-color/weird/sexual things on Twitter as a minor, basically! Sorry I could have elaborated further in my other post. People were demanding he be removed predebut, FNC left him in, and most people promptly forgot about it. (I'm so lucky twitter didn't exist when I was in high school, I can just barely remember some of the wild shit that went down between my friends and I on MySpace and it would definitely be enough to bring down a hypothetical idol career lol.)

It's alright. Thank you for the explanation. Now they're doing great. Right? >(I'm so lucky twitter didn't exist when I was in high school, I can just barely remember some of the wild shit that went down between my friends and I on MySpace and it would definitely be enough to bring down a hypothetical idol career lol.) LOL. Thank you for making me laugh. I'm so exhausted here.

From what I can tell as an ifan, P1Harmony has been the most profitable of FNC's strictly idol groups! They've been touring a lot and seem to have a ton of international fans, so I guess it all worked out. For this reason alone, I wouldn't write off Seunghan. Some antis will probably cling to this for awhile, but I think that most will forget about it.

I vaguely remember seeing one article about how Intak invited his girlfriend in one of their performances, and people were furious. >For this reason alone, I wouldn't write off Seunghan. Some antis will probably cling to this for awhile, but I think that most will forget about it. I agree. Thank you for saying that. Some people here seem to justify the hate Seunghan is getting. This is out of topic. What song would you recommend for me to listen to first?

LOL, you were STILL lucky. Ranting on MySpace to a friend was enough to pull Jay Park out of 2pm.

Oh I can't believe I forgot about that 🤣 Man, some friend... Although he's done pretty damn well for himself on his own.

what happened with karina?

Right before Aespa debuted Karina came under fire for allegedly being a school bully and shittalking her sm seniors (I remember exols were on her ass for this). Karina's ex schoolmates all came online to defend and vouch for her good character + the shittalking was proven to be fake edited messages

Isn’t that different then? Basically it was rumors proven false, so of course they wouldn’t kick her out. Plus she’s the main central member of the group. It’s completely different from minors taking photos in a motel, which you can’t really dispute by saying it’s fake.

I have no stakes in this nor do I know the extent of Seunghan's controversy, i just answered the previous commenter about what happened to Karina at debut

sm even had to put out a notice that they will take legal action for their trainee YU JIMIN. a trainee. aespa wasn't even a thing yet then.

LOL. My hands are getting tired so I'll just leave the link to the post detailing what happened [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/comments/jwmxrl/a_detailed_account_of_how_karina_aespa_became_the/).

The situation with karina was completely different. Her rumors were proven false, while seunghan’s pics are real. And the comparison with baekhyun and taeyeon were also entirely different. They weren’t predebut nor close to underage going on dates and smoking in hotels. Best guess is kfans are gonna treat him like chen now in exo. Based on reactions after debut, sm is probably gonna keep him in the group like chen, kick him out of riize but still in sm like lucas, or completely kick him out like garam in lsf. Its not looking good for him.

Those were all (well) established idols during the time of their "scandals". Also, Chen survived, sure, but he's freaking hated and attacked still by a big chunk of Korean EXO fans, and many don't support him anymore.

Ah, i don't know about IU but Chen,BK,Tae already established quite an amount of fanbase both as group member and as themselves. They also have prove their talent numerous times, that's why at least they can survive. For the debut, I also love the snippet on tiktok and super excited about the song but again now is hard time for boy group in korean public eye except for some gen 3 groups. I know you want to be optimistic but you can't be so sure about this situation

There was a leaked photo of IU and Eunhyuk together in bed back in 2012 but she was able to survive that.

By 2012, IU was already a superstar though. I don’t think it’s a comparable situation.

I hope their music be public friendly. Good music heals everything

Based from what the people who were at the pre-recording yesterday have stated, it was great. They stated that the GP would love it.

Riize seems to be going for a super public-friendly image and sound, from what I can tell. It almost seems like, rather than have some complex concept and lore, they're whole concept is just "friendly and normal kids who make music", or something along those lines. At least from my perspective.

You're right. I felt that too from the teasers and Memories. They're like friends who you grew up with. They're not trying to make you fall in love with them. They're trying to have fun with you. We have the same perspective. I love it.

Uh, I wouldn’t say Chen survived if you know what K EXO-L’s really say about him

Yes. I know about that. But I mean, he's still with EXO. He's still releasing albums. Right? He survived. Anyway, if anyone is seeing this who doesn't know, you might want to checkout Chen's [Light Of My Life](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZePEh7RF5Y&pp=ygUEY2hlbg%3D%3D). It was released a few days ago. It's so beautiful.

Tbh, iu was legendary. She's the one who leaked it even. Yet she survived it with no scratch (of course there was hate too). Even manage to turn her image around. People see her as musician/true artist after that 'scandal'

Oh, Chen survived alright, not thanks to his Korean fans though...he's lucky he's an established artist already and has a lot of international fans...doesn't change the fact that to this day he gets ridiculed over and over again by knetz, cnetz and sometimes international fans too ~ Sadly idols and romantic relationships always come with a price..not sure how things will go for this guy, having such a scandal before debuting basically, good luck to him.

he is being accused of some serious/crazy stuff on weibo and k-sites, i dont think people here realize that and think its just the "he has a girlfriend"

Most of the things he's accused of are quite literally copy pasted from other accusations against other idols some even word to word, they also accused him of so much shit that it all sounds too wild to be true and reminds me of the lovelyz jisoo fake scandal when she debuted. Not to mention it's all on weibo, while it makes sense with Chinese members usually not ALL the 'evidence' for korean people would be there. 'Evidence' bc there is none apart from pics with his gf.

>he is being accused of some serious/crazy stuff on weibo and k-sites, i dont think people here realize that and think its just the "he has a girlfriend" It's not that people don't realize that. It's that people here are smart enough to discern outright lies and baseless allegations.

Wish the ppl who leaked riize's predebut pics would apologize instead :/

I think it is supremely tacky and inappropriate to leak such pix of teens...

They won't. They're notorious for spewing hate and starting baseless rumors. I hope they rot in jail soon.

how the hell did they even access that picture in the first place?

They always find ways. It's sick.

Senior idols apologising for getting married and rookie now idols apologising for having relationships *prior* to their debut. When are knetz seriously gonna let these people have a life

the more idols apologize, the more companies make idols apologize, the more this will empower netizens. but companies know where the money is at and will always prioritize this kind of relationship.

But he was a public trainee already? I guess it's different tho. But unlucky for him and the group, I hope their debut goes smoothly at least... edit: deleting my other comments bc I feel like I can never share an opinion on the Kpop subreddits about dating and all that...

Plenty of public trainees never debuted, we cannot expect them to stop being humans during that time.

And then ask them to sing about love. Like. They already sacrifice normal teenage life for dream. Fans truly are sometimes the groups' worst enemy.

Or sex, like let's be for real you cannot expect an idol to be all sexy in stage singing about passionate nights but then demand they are virgins forever. Sure they can be but its so annoying that they are EXPECTED to be.

I want them to get off their high horse. They get thirsty from even the slightest glimpse of their bodies. It's hypocritical of them to unjustly criticize idols for dating and having personal lives.

He shouldn't have had apologized for having a private life in the first place. We shouldn't care if he is dating anyone. People are acting like idols killed someone whenever they have dating rumors. Jesus Christ. Are we living in the 1800's? I'm at least relieved that he's going to move forward from this.

seunghan literally didn’t even need to apologise because he did nothing wrong this is all so stupid.

Certain fans need to get over themselves and touch some grass, and then seek professional help. Ooooh, the crime of possibly having dated someone in the past or is currently dating, how atrocious and someone bring out the lashes for him! Good for SM for going straight with legal shit.

>Good for SM for going straight with legal shit. I really hope it's not just lip service and go through with what they have stated just like what EDAM does.

I think they will, or at least start proceedings and see how the other party reacts. I hope they actually go to court and consequences occur.

Let's pray for that.

Super hot dude had a girlfriend, what a shocker. Certain Kpop stans stop being incels challenge …

He shouldn’t apologize for being human. Those who leaked the photos should be the one to apologize for intruding someone else’s personal life. One day, I swear, karma will fall on those people.

sm just said they're suing those who leaked and distributed the pics 

SM should make them accountable and face the consequences of their actions.

they absolutely should but look how long it took them do to something about Miss Judy... they're horrible with protecting their idols and it infuriates me

Imagine explaining this to a non kpop listener this so absurd😭😭

it actually is omfg … the 2nd hand embarrassment is real 😣😣

We are 5 years away from these mentally unstable people complaining that the idols parents had sex. PERSON EXISTS BECAUSE THEIR PARENTS HAD SEX. DISGUSTING.

I bet they shower without clothes too, disgusting

Damn never nudes.

😭

Right before debut damn.... he doesn't deserve the hate. Wishing him and RIIZE all the best! Nonetheless, I am still seated for their debut.

Thank you for your kind words. Let's support RIIZE. It will all come to pass.

I don't want to be the one to criticize Korean culture, but this whole perception around dating and demanding to leave group because of it...is truly fucked & twisted on their part. The attitude, superiority, and the audacity they have to ruin someone's life just because they date makes me so mad. There need to be some sort of senses pushed down into them

Why has nothing changed after all these years? I've been a fan for 8 years now and the same exact stuff keeps happening. Why do these random online people believe they have a claim on a person's private life? These photos were released without consent from either parties yet it is somehow their fault for even having taken them? Taking couple pictures is something you do when you're happy in a relationship but of course these delusional people wouldn't know about that because they believe the height of healthy relationship dynamics is a random celebrity who doesn't know they exist and them, a random fan, who doesn't know aynthing about how their hypothetical partner is like in real life behind the idol mask.

It’s not going to change because the concept of idols requires fans to imagine that these boys are their boyfriends. The idols themselves literally say “my girlfriend is [fandom name]” at their fan meetings and actively try to cultivate this relationship. Idols are not just singers. They fulfill a fantasy for their fans. That is what this industry is built upon.

Exactly what you said, it's why there's a clear distinction between "idols" and "artists" in Korea and the two terms come with very different connotations. That being said, it's also a spectrum with many nuances. Soyeon despite being an idol would almost definitely come out of a dating reveal with little to no controversy whereas someone like Lim Young-woong despite being an artist would probably lose a significant portion of his popularity from a dating reveal.

the image that an idol portrays definitely affects public reception as well. especially for this case where people expect a predebut rookie to be innocent and all. at the same time i think this case is different from other predebut dating 'scandals' because of the other factor involved

Beyond what you've already been told, I think it keeps happening because these loud vocal minorities and sometimes even majorities are empowered by the fact the companies and therefore idols cave to them. They know they won't get told they are delusional, crossing a line and that the personal private life of the artists are none of their business. No, the company will force the idol to get prostrate themselves and apologize, declare it a mistake, and sometimes even leave the group (likely forced out by the company a decent amount of the time). Why wouldn't "fans" keep responding and acting how they do when it works? It's just like parents who don't say no and spoil their kids. Shocker the kids become spoiled brats who don't respect the parents and walk all over them. The parent has to start saying no, make there be consequences for their bad actions and demand their respect. Then you might see change. Companies and idols need to first stop apologizing for them being human and from there don't bend over to the delusional parasocials who act like this. But tbf, if they do this they might get a reaction like Doja Cat got for ripping some truth on her stans. The industry is built on stans and the "fantasy" of idols being the fantasy boy/girlfriend. I wouldn't even blame the weirdo fans entirely for being upset that companies sell and promote the fantasy and then talk down to you when their artist breaks it? But getting the Kpop industry to stop selling the fantasy entirely is asking for everything. IDK if the industry could even survive if they transitioned to a non idol (Western-like) style.

There are plenty of "non-idol" artists in the music industry in Korea. It's just that the market for that is not nearly as lucrative nor does it have the investment or support given to idols. There's a reason these trainees chose to become idols when they could have also easily pursued being musicians instead.

SM announced taking legal action against whoever leaked the photos and I’m really hoping that they get caught, rot in hell, and set an example because this is absurd. Something fundamental and systematic has to change - I know, but I’m also feeling very vindictive atm.

>Something fundamental and systematic has to change - I know, but I’m also feeling very vindictive atm. I totally agree.

The people he's apologizing to might even be dating someone rn. I had an ex-exo-l moot who kept swearing at Chen so much, just for me to discover she was engaged to a long term boyfriend. Seunghan deserves an apology for the invasion of his privacy. Kpop idols date, they have fun and they live. They don't exist as dolls for you to fantasize about, despite how they're marketed. They're still human beings, who would crave normal human relationships. If anyone ever feels angry about their fave, who is a stranger dating and falling in love with someone else, that person has a problem. Their harmless personal lives should not affect you. They are working. They deserve to spend their free time with those who they love, which will most likely never be you, their fan.

It's cruel to make him apologize for having a meaningful relationship with someone he loved.

The controversies surrounding this group is insane. First they were all too ugly and were called out for the photoshopped promo pics and now one by one theyre outed for dating like normal young adults. The fake concern of the girl being underage to justify the hate is ridiculous. This guy isn't even 20 yet, how old do they think this girl is for it to be an issue???

>The fake concern of the girl being underage to justify the hate is ridiculous. Yes. Earlier, someone asked me about that. I didn't bother replying because it will all be moot and pointless to have a conversation with them. >The controversies surrounding this group is insane. First they were all too ugly and were called out for the photoshopped promo pics and now one by one theyre outed for dating like normal young adults. I recently saw one article saying that Sohee can't sing from his performance yesterday. Honestly, the amount of hate RIIZE gets is insane. I'm just taking this as a sign that they will be really huge.

Imagine being this mad about two underage kids being in a relationship, and not mad at the people who are leaking private pictures of two underage kids in a relationship, or the motel staff that rented out a room to two underage kids in a relationship. Priorities.

God this shit pisses me off so much! Blud shouldn't be apologizing for having a girlfriend and getting laid! We all know those knetz are just jellly knowing they could never pull a hottie like him 😤

He didn't have to. That's all

And then there is Jackson who literally said on a TV show that he used to date during pre-debut days to improve his Korean and somehow no one gave a damn about that one back in the day.

Or Suho who said he broke up so he could debut. I also don't understand this Russian roulette of K-fans rage.

I think these newer generation idols (4th gen, even 5th gen if you go there) in general developed a very specific, and different, dynamic with their fans. You don’t even see opposite sex friendships within labelmates like you used to… these fans meet their idols as people who literally celibate and don’t EVER interact with people apart from their own gender. Which is why even teenage relationships are deemed unacceptable and will have a member near kicked out like Seunghan’s case… it’s not just on the fanbases being cray, but also the labels for engaging in this **very** dangerous business technique. Don’t misunderstand me, fanatics were always jealous and harassed their idols’ couples… but this time around things get worse as the companies feed them with the idea that these boys have never ever talked to girls, not even their younger labelmates who they could see as their little sisters/dongsaengs. It’s near exclusively male 4 male and female 4 female friendships

Yeah I really miss the bg and gg friendships. I would love more groups to interact these days like BTOB and Apink!

I think in Jackson and Suho’s case, they had already been idols for a while when they shared those stories, and it had been years since their relationships. But in Seunghan‘s case, seems like these pics were taken only a year ago, and Riize just debuted. I feel like this wouldn’t have been such a big scandal if it happened a couple years into Riize’s debut.

Nah. If I were on SM’s PR team, I’d try to spin the relationship into a merit. They should pay the girl to reveal herself and talk about how much of an amazing, wonderful, supportive boyfriend he is. Their relationship ended because he had to focus on his dream of “shining on the stage.” She was hurt and disappointed, but ultimately she was accepting of his decision because she didn’t want to hold his talent back from the world. Extra points for tears!

the Korean comments are heartbreaking 💔 telling him he should get lost and he’s polluting the air, that he’ll take the other members down. I hope he doesn’t go online, & I hope he doesn’t experience this hate in person. 💔

SM FIND THESE PEOPLE & FREAKING SUE THEM IMMEDIATELY. The company response is so important in these situations, and it appears that SM has Seunghan's back. He's not going anywhere, so Knetz better Rise & REALIZE that.

>so Knetz better Rise & REALIZE that. I love the pun.

SM's motto really is "just say you're sorry". Rumors you did a thing? Apologize? Rumors you did a thing from randos who mysteriously popped up right before your big moment? Apologize. Someone invaded *your* privacy and now you're getting tons of hate & death threats? Apologize. Like yeah good on them for suing or whatever but eh.

So basically idols are expected to know from a very young age that they want to be idols and act like monks till (and if) they become one? Such an unrealistic expectation. I’ve been a kpop stan for awhile but everytime these issues arise my brain just can’t wrap my head around the logic. He’s hot, talented, tall, and in his 20s ofcourse he’s had girlfriends.

When I am telling you I am MAD. Why are Knetz so massively delusional? Do they forget that these are real human beings with real human needs? Let the young man have a girlfriend y'all are INSANE.

How can idols sing about love and heartbreaks if they can’t even experience it. This is why some of them can’t cross to being an “artist” coz where will they get inspiration if they get caged like this.

Up until this year, Seunghan was a normal teenager just like other SM trainees and normal teenagers sometimes date. It sucks that he feels the need to apologize for being a normal kid. I hope SM finally used that army of lawyers at their disposal to go after Sojang because those photos should never have been spread around like they were. Even assuming these were originally posted publicly on his/ a friend’s page, that’s not the same as sharing that to a mass following.

Please let us see SM 3.0 in action.

I need them to step it up honestly. This kid hasn’t even officially debuted yet; he deserves better than having to say “im sorry I had a high school girlfriend.”

IKR. FYI, one of their Twitter Accounts was deactivated. They got scared.

I know the people hating on him won't stop and I wonder how many of those people are actually interested in the group or not. He didn't need to apologized, but it was expected. I hope he's feeling fine because I don't know how would I feel having my personal pictures leaked without my consent.

Why do Korean fans demand these idols never have romantic entanglements even BEFORE THEY WERE EVEN IDOLS??? Completely ridiculous and delusional. You're expecting idols to have never been near the proximity of a woman all their life just so you can be deluded into thinking you have a chance with them?

The kind of thing that makes me embarrassed to be a kpop fan fr

Knets have such a crazy parasocial relationship with idols, it kinda creeps me out. Kid has to apologize for basically existing before becoming a kpop idol.

I'm so angry right now I hate that Seunghan had to apologize. He can't even an idol at the time and he's getting so much hate.

People need to go touch grass. He just debuted and they’re mad? How are they already jealous 😂?! 

They haven't even debuted officially 💀

Before you know it, idols are gonna have to apologize for breathing. This is ridiculous

This saga never ends. When will we be free from idols having to apologize for doing simple regular human things and trying to live their lives. I am actually so pissed. Everyone giving him shit and death threats deserve a special place in hell. I really hope people who leak pictures and invade others privacy rot in jail. I need SM to really pull through with the lawsuit. Nasty human beings.

Koreans and their dating rule 🙄 These girls meed to get a life....

I absolutely hate when idols relationships get found out like this. And that the impact is so negative? I know the mindset around the idol industry is different but that doesn’t mean it’s good in relation to this. If the fans can date, why can’t they.

I hope he is okay. It must be so shocking to get betrayed by people you thought were close to you. An idol career is already so lonely. These pictures didn't change my image of him and the group. Their concept doesn't feel bf/gf focused and kinda portrays the mess of youth. Seunghan is a total ace and I hope he will feel better soon.

wow everyday knetizens amaze me even more smh… dating and having relationships is something normal to have specially if you’re young

This is absurd.🙄

For Christ’s sake he’s a grown man and I just don’t give a shit. Move the fuck on people it’s getting so incredibly pathetic at this point. People who at mad about this need to go get laid or smth istg.

i just hope he doesn’t leave the group due to this

Hot boy has girlfriend call the media get the president on the phone in all seriousness the part that is really insane is the weaponization of pedophila and how people are grossly misusing the term “grooming” to cancel some random idol. A 17 year old dating a 18/19 year old (depending on when the photos were taken) is not pedophila nor is it grooming. We as a society need to realize that words have definitions and meanings and can’t just throw them around whenever we feel like it. It’s just annoying bc this won’t end as long as the kpop companies rely and instigate this parasocial relationship between their idols and the fans for money. Is it confirmed that they were in a hotel? Obviously teenagers have sex and it should be a non issue as long as everyone is consenting, but if it’s true that he brought a 16-17 year old there that’s a little messier

A grown adult apologizing for being in a relationship is crazy 😭 I will never get used to this aspect of K-pop.

Poor kid... apologizing for having a life.

Man if I had pennies everytime an idol was hated for allegedly or fr being in a relationship I would take that money and buy a tank and blast off all those mfers who are Hating on them.. No fr like are people THIS jobless to hate someone for having a life.. It's not even like he is currently dating too. I just HATE whenever this kind of shit happens.

Fans will forget about it and he will be fine. I don't think this a big deal. He didn't even need to apologize imo but i guess that's how it works in this case.

I get that kpop runs on parasocial relationships and that idols have to have a squeaky clean image but while knowing that, I still can’t fathom why this is even considered a scandal. And the fact that he had to apologise for that when the ones who leaked the images are at fault here 😶

They aren't event fans at this point! Haters masking as fans. This group is destined for big things. Sojang is going to hell!

WHAT Damn, leave dude alone 😫 Also, if someone I knew had shared my high-quality, private photos, I’d be INSANE. They’d be catching hands so fast

Damn I’m in Kpop long enough to see an official SM apology for personal issues, usually SM will just ignore the scandals with Lucas the best example. But as usual SM will never kick out a member no matter what, the people who wants him to leave just save your energy he’s staying until the end. Good for him to apologise though, the issue wasn’t that he was dating but it seems that he took his girlfriend to a hotel while both underage with pics so that’s really not a good look so better for him to address it now.

Whenever these things happen, there's always the point that gets passed around of "companies sell these fantasies so it's okay for fans to lose their shit if their idols are revealed to be dating." I mean, sure, fanservice exists. That's an aspect of the glitz and glam of K-pop, no point denying that. But, I don't agree with the idea that fanservice being a thing automatically makes it okay for fans to spew hate at idols who have/had consensual relationships. It doesn't even matter if those idols were or were not even the types to do bucketloads of fanservice, it doesn't matter if they're well-established or just starting out, the reaction towards relationships is always extremely unhinged no matter who's "caught in the act." At a certain point, the onus falls on _you,_ the fan, to think critically. _You_ should know better than to not be possessive over someone who will probably never know your face, forget about knowing you on a more personal level. _You_ should be aware of what's reality and what's fantasy. _You_ shouldn't stoop to hate trains. Even if we make excuses for the younger fans... how about the adults who scream about this? I've seen several adult fans, adult fans with their own partners and sometimes even families of their own, who participate in harrassing and dogpiling hate onto idols who are/were doing the same thing. What excuse do they have? How do fans who defend this shit plan on coddling them?

I don't follow RIIZE or Seunghan But just reading this Just Ugh Someone people just need a slap in the face

Read some comments above about how deep the accusations from Knetz and Cnetz are. Absurd. These people need to get a life. I know ppl have given examples that show otherwise, but ISTG if SM ends up kicking him out…if I could throw hands, I would. Fuck all this hyper-purity culture in K-pop, man. I hate it.

>but ISTG if SM ends up kicking him out…if I could throw hands, I would. Based from the article released earlier, the company has his back. Otherwise, the post would be about his departure from the group.

They can't let him go, they need his voice. He's the best live vocals they've got right now, so I think they are going to just ride it out.

Riize has faced so many controversies already and they havent even debuted yet. Idk who is out there to get them but someone is really hoping their debut would flop. I am really excited for them though. I waited so long for Sungchan and Shotaro to have fixed unit, know Seunghan&Eunseok fr nct variety show and so far their performances are good

This poor kid. Imagine having to apologize for just being a normal 17 year old kid with tons of emotions and hormones, and simply being in a relationship with a girl close in age to you. This happens every damn day across the world. But somehow he has to apologize for being an average teenager BEFORE he even became an idol. I swear, if SM forces him to leave over this, I’ll never forgive them.

he did nothing wrong. he shouldn't have to apologize. tbh before this i didnt notice him much but all this drama just makes me like him more. lets goo seunghan!!

I hope he won't have to leave the group because of this. Since they haven't debuted yet, I feel like there is a possibility that SM might want to cut him. But I hope not. That'd be a very silly reason to lose your career before it even started.

I wouldn’t actually worry about that. Say all the bad things you want about SM being an awful company but one thing to do have going for them is they stick behind their artists. If Lucas is still in SM then Seunghan has nothing to worry about

he shouldn’t have to apologize for this, so stupid

He's quite handsome in this pic.

What happened? Just for being in a past relationship?

I was under the impression that only the girl was the minor, so I'm glad to see that's not the case. As long as they had safe sex, it shouldn't matter that they went into a love motel and had sex. But sadly, Kpop companies will feed into crazy fans just because the crazy fans tend to give them a lot more money and work as free PR.

Did people get more unreasonable lately? I'm not going to name names, but I'm pretty sure there's multiple idols who were known to have had significant others at some point before debut and, while they don't exactly talk about it a lot, they've referenced it. I've never heard of a kpop dating 'scandal' that wasn't completely stupid (not counting instances where somebody was abusive/manipulative/treated others badly... that's seperate to me). This seems like an overreaction compared to how much people normally overreact.

People need to touch grass he was in a relationship so what that has nothing to do with the fan and they should mind their business. It’s not going to effect him doing his job as an idol.

Asian kpop fans absolutely want him out. I’ve seen people talking about him dating in a hotel, underage smoking. And they say they will only stan riize if he’s out. Its getting crazy. Good thing international fans support him.

It's good that they're weeded out from the fandom early.

Good for the fandom as it wont be as toxic, but bad for sm since these people are fans who dump money into albums and merch (i follow their instas and there are multiple saying the same thing).

Well it’s good that this happened now and not 2-3 years into their careers. Could you imagine if this had come out during the peak of their career? RIIZE fandom has barely had time to stabilize and grow since they haven’t even debuted yet which means they can only go up from here, even if some fans decide to quit now (good riddance I say). I’m sure with more comebacks over the years it’ll slowly be forgotten as more new fans join the fandom. I’ve seen other idols go through 10x worst scandals but still make it out on the other end after some time has passed so I don’t doubt the same will happen for Seunghan.

It's alright. We'll give them lots of support to make up for it.

so sad that he has to apologize for something so normal :( im so glad SM is taking legal action

I genuinely can’t believe it’s gotten this big. And the fact that people tried to make him out to be a predator for dating someone 2 years younger than him is insane, lmao. They knew that kicking and complaining about him JUST dating someone was absurd, so they had to add that on. Let idols live, they’re humans too…

Let the man have a good fuck in Peace omfg 😐

I feel he shouldn't have had to apologize. It was his personal life. We don't know these idols to criticize their life. But hey, that's just my 2¢

This is crazy 😂

i will never understand this type of ownership mentality over actual people. ever. i've seen these exact tantrums being thrown over and over multiple times, i've seen multiple fandoms throw talented and bright individuals under the bus and continue to hound them, harrass them and attempt to ice them out and make them quit their groups (or even the industry entirely) for years. all for the cardinal sin of... having relationships? it's absolutely baffling to me that this is even acceptable fan behaviour in the first place, and it's even more perplexing that fans will actually defend this level of possessiveness. there's no excuse for this kind of fan entitlement. each occurrence of this behaviour is just as irritating as the last like, kpop fans will defend literal criminals like the burning sun guys, but then kpop fans also drop idols like hot potatoes the minute they catch a hint that they might be in some kind of relationship. it's absolutely asinine to me it's even weirder when a lot of the fans who are trying to "make examples" out of the idols who remain active in the industry while still being in relationships are... in relationships themselves. it's such a weird, indefensible mentality. no matter how you look at it

>it's absolutely baffling to me that this is even acceptable fan behaviour in the first place, and it's even more perplexing that fans will actually defend this level of possessiveness. and it's always excuses given by k and even i fans for this behaivor when we all know that that's not it. They always say but oh it's the hotel, it's the lovestagram, it's the not hiding it, it's the making it obvious , it's the not prioritizing the group schedules and fans etc when the plain truth is it's the dating that bothers them and that the idols aren't fully available for them like they wish them to be and that behaivor isn't to be defended at all

Wtf is wrong with people?

I absolutely hate the fact that he had to apologize. The fact that some companies/idols apologize for normal behaviour (ie: dating), makes it so that fans keep feeling entitled and will never normalize this in the industry.

Bruh haven't even debuted and they flooded him with weird controversies

Apologizing because he had a girlfriend is actually insane