"RIIZE IS 7": Physical protest breaks out prior to KBS‘s Music Bank in Antwerp as fans demand Seunghan's return from hiatus

On Friday, April 19, the RIIZE group was spotted filming a few TikTok videos and Instagram reels in the streets of Antwerp prior to their performance at KBS's festival, Music Ban in Antwerp. While several other K-pop idols were also seen hanging out in the city, RIIZE's appearance particularly received attention from the fans who were gathered around to see them film their videos.

As the members rolled out the choreography of their recent track, Impossible, for the filming, the audience was heard shouting the phrase—

"RIIZE IS 7! BRING SEUNGHAN BACK!"

There were even physical printouts of this phrase being held by some people in the crowd. For those who aren't aware, Seunghan was announced to have entered an indefinite hiatus by SM Entertainment in November of last year. This resulted in a break out of a few controversies leading to much criticism against the idol.

Fans, however, have been calling for the idol's return through protest trucks, internet campaigns, and other means because they believe the controversies are not only old news but also not significant enough to have an impact on the idol's career as a K-pop star. Since there has been no response from SM Entertainment regarding the same, fans seemed to have taken the protest one step ahead by physically advocating for the issue.

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Fans physically protest for the return of Seunghan during RIIZE's schedules in Antwerp

On April 19, RIIZE members were in Antwerp for their performance at the KBS Music Bank in the city which is scheduled for April 20. RIIZE was one of the many artists that evening, including ZEROBASEONE, TXT, STAYC, ONEUS, and others.

As fans gathered around to see the idols dance, some of them started shouting several phrases that demanded Seunghan's return to the group's activities.

Even when the members were seen walking around the city streets, fans went behind them while showing their paper posters in hopes of getting the attention of the agency.

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Controversies surrounding RIIZE's Seunghan

In November of 2023, SM Entertainment released a statement announcing the indefinite hiatus of RIIZE's Seunghan. It was explained that the idol would be taking some time off his work with the group due to the criticism around him and using the time to reflect on his actions. This resulted from a couple of controversies that mounted one on top of the other.

Even before the group's official debut in September, pictures of Seunghan with his alleged ex-girlfriend landed on the internet in August. Given that dating scandals aren't well-received by the K-pop masses, the idol was quite criticized for his actions. Though the controversy soon settled, the idol was once entangled in a few other controversies.

Pictures and videos of him allegedly smoking landed on the internet along with the leak of his collaborative private Instagram live with TXT's Soobin. The livestream had the two talking about several topics, however, allegations of Soobin and Seunghan bad-mouthing LE SSERAFIM's Eunchae surfaced due to mistranslation. However, the controversy failed to hold legitimacy since the members weren't actually mocking Eunchae.

Regardless, the general perspective towards Seunghan shifted and several netizens protested for his removal from the group. While this resulted in his hiatus, fans weren't happy with the news. Ever since his hiatus, fans have been adopting several means to demand his return to the industry such as online campaigns, advertisements, posters, protest trucks, etc.

SM Entertainment has only continued to be silent about fans' demands while slowly erasing the idol's participation in RIIZE such as the deletion of his highlight from the group's Instagram, removing his name from the group's video credits, etc. Therefore, fans have been consistently finding new ways to communicate their demands.

With these efforts, fans look forward to Seunghan's quick return!