No, Seunghan Shouldn’t Apologize.
The idol cited a heavy mental burden and sense of responsibility as the reason for his departure from RIIZE. But he shouldn’t have to leave.
RIIZE’s Seungham, SM ENTERTAINMENT
Yesterday, SM Entertainment announced that Seunghan would leave RIIZE for an indefinite hiatus. The idol cited a heavy mental burden and sense of responsibility as the reason for his departure, which came after several weeks of criticism from fans. RIIZE, the rare rookie group that has already broken 1 million sales of their debut single “Get a Guitar”, will continue as six members. “Seunghan told us that he wanted to take time off from his team,” the company’s statement reads before they apologized “for our lack of management of our artist, even though these instances happened pre-debut.”
Bolstered by two former NCT members, Shotaro and Sungchan, RIIZE is one of the most important rookie groups this year. They are the first boy group SM has debuted since NCT in 2018, and one of the few younger groups at the company not chained by a lore or rotating member concept.
While SM acknowledged that they would pursue legal action against those responsible for the leak, their statement, in my belief, does not go far enough to condemn these actions. "The leaked videos and photos capture the private moments of Seunghan when he was an idol trainee," the statement reads. "They were manipulated through intentional secondary editing to spread misinformation. We have already identified the source and will file a complaint with the police today. We are also considering taking legal measures, including action for defamation, cybercrime and intimidation."
Yet what is most upsetting is that Seunghan still must apologize – even though he is the victim of a crime. SM’s statement seems to be in support of this apology, writing in part, "Seunghan has been feeling responsible for disappointing the fans and is sincerely feeling regretful for his actions. He has told us that he would like to stop damaging the group, and we decided to respect his wishes."
In a handwritten statement, Seunghan wrote, "First of all, I want to say I'm really sorry. I know very well that my rash actions in the past have hurt so many people. I'll sincerely reflect on myself and strive harder to become a better person."
I was disappointed by SM’s statement because it did not forcefully condemn the actions of the leakers or defend Seunghan, who has done nothing wrong.
Idols deserve more protection. Companies should not only defend their idols when misinformation is spread, but write statements that admonish this form of abuse. Your favorite idol is under an enormous amount of pressure to be the thinnest; to look the most beautiful; to make sure, every single day, that they don’t screw up, because if they do, their career is over.
Want proof? Look at Jessica Jung, who was kicked out of Girls Generation, for reasons that she later alleged in two somewhat autobiographical books, that include falling in love and creating her own fashion line. More recently, Garam, a fifteen-year-old member of LE SSERAFIM, left the group after bullying allegations were made public. But the truth, it seemed, was murkier and perhaps involved Garam defending a school friend. What if we had waited for clearer answers in Garam’s case? What if Jessica Jung had been allowed to act like any other 24 year-old girl? Most troublingly, I wonder what these sorts of things do to idols who are still growing up. How much trauma are we pushing on idols before they can even legally drink?
Unless he decides to return, Seunghan now joins a large club of former idols who, for a time, dared to be like the rest of us – and paid mightily for it.
