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On June 28, 2023, SM Entertainment surprise dropped teasers for two new SMROOKIES, YUSHI and SION. The teaser reveal was sudden and threw many fans off the rails. As per the SM 3.0 plans that was revealed a few months ago, YUSHI and SION will be part of “NCT new team.” The remaining members will be selected through a pre-debut survival show.
While fans did not send any hate to the new NCT members, what riled them up was that they were possibly going to debut in the Tokyo subunit since the agency had also earlier confirmed to close the group’s infinite members expansion plan. This ignited fans’ pent up frustration as they expressed their anger at the agency removing Sungchan, Shotaro, and Shohei from NCT.
Sungchan and Shotaro were revealed as NCT members in SMROOKIES 2020. Since the Tokyo subunit was in discussion for quite a long time, fans believed that the duo would debut in it. However, SM Entertainment recently swapped their places and announced that they will debut in a new boy group.
As a result, fans were notably upset and mentioned that it did not make sense for the agency to remove Sungchan (Korean), Shotaro (Japanese), and Shohei (Japanese) only to bring in other Japanese (YUSHI) and Korean (SION) members.
SM Entertainment introduces two new SMROOKIES, but the move causes chaos within the NCT fandom
In February this year, SM Entertainment released a lengthy video detailing their plans for the future. Named SM 3.0, the new chapter in the agency’s strategy included things from IP management, business plans, to global expansion.
One change that brought in celebration was the agency closing off NCT’s infinite expansion strategy. Currently having 23 members, the group initially had a plan of having limitless members. It also added that the Tokyo subunit will be the last subunit of NCT.
Fast forward to June 28, SMROOKIES introduced two new members - YUSHI and SION. The duo attracted much attention especially after fans remembered that SM Entertainment’s most recent video about artist plans mentioned a new NCT team that will include two SMROOKIES and winners selected from a debut survival show. In addtion, the agency had announced that the Tokyo subunit would be made of entirely new members.
The SMROOKIES’ reveal drew flak from the NCT fandom as they expressed their disappointment with how SM Entertainment had handled their previous rookies - Sungchan, Shotaro, and Shohei. While the agency stated that Shohei will not be a part of NCT anymore due to health issues, Sungchan and Shotaro were shifted to a new boy group last month.
Fans did not receive the news well as they criticized the agency for using the SMROOKIES. Moreover, Sungchan and Shotaro were promoted as NCT members in Japan for three years but were later removed from the group. Other rookies, Seunghan and Eunseok, who were introduced with Shohei last year, are also reportedly a part of the agency's new boy group.
The NCT fandom’s focus is now divided as they try to make sense of the issue with the reveal of YUSHI and SOIN. Fans will possibly take some time to shift their focus from the trainees they knew for over three years to the newly introduced members.
Meanwhile, SM Entertainment is yet to release any details regarding the upcoming survival show or about their new boy group which will feature Sungchan and Shotaro.
