“We need Seunghan in between”- Fans give mixed reactions as RIIZE appears on ELLE magazine cover without their former member

On October 16, 2024, RIIZE appeared on ELLE Korea magazine cover as 6 members. This cover comes 3 days after the group's seventh member, Seunghan, was announced to have left. Supporters of the former member have been demanding the artist's comeback and boycotting the group's activities, including, their recent editorial.

The six-member magazine cover attracted mixed reactions from fans, hoping for the artist's miraculous comeback to the group. K-pop fans expressed their disappointment and anger by flooding the social media platform, wishing to see RIIZE as a seven-member group.

"We need Seunghan in between"

"1 missing RIIZE is 7," - another user reiterated.

"If only SEUNGHAN were there," - a fan stated.

"releasing this to distract us from seunghan uh huh," - an X user observed.

Continuing with a boycott of the group's activities including unfollowing/unsubscribing their official social media channels and a streaming ban, BRIIZE (fans of the group) called for a boycott of this ELLE magazine issue with the group.

"Riize is 7. Without Seunghan we don't care," - an X user commented.

"DO NOT BUY THIS MAGAZINE. BOYCOTT," - a BRIIZE said.

"We won't be buying thanks," - another BRIIZE stated.

Impossible singers will be appearing for the cover of ELLE Korea's November issue alongside My Love from the Star actress Jun Ji-hyun, Train to Busan's actor Gong Yoo, and Stray Kids Felix. These four Louis Vuitton ambassadors across different generations and professional fields represent 'THE NOW'.

This special project marks the celebration of the 32nd anniversary of the November issue of ELLE, boasting the longest history among domestic fashion magazines. The magazine's November issue is a collaboration between ELLE and Louis Vuitton, which will be specially produced with 12 covers. The issue will be released around October 21, 2024, with interviews and pictorials from the artists.

Various content, including a special interview film containing questions about 'style' will be released through ELLE YouTube.

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Global K-Pop shops announce discontinuation of RIIZE products following Seunghan's departure

Social media boycotts organised by fans following the news of Seunghan's departure have shown great results. However, another important part of the boycott involves not purchasing the group's albums or merchandise. This wave of boycotts has also reached various global K-pop product suppliers including, SubK Shop, one of the largest worldwide based in the United States.

On October 16, SubK Shop announced that in light of the recent event, they will temporarily halt the import of RIIZE products out of respect for their customers, fans, and the artist.

SubK Shop which falls under SubKulture Entertainment, is a production/tour management company that has partnered with SM Entertainment for the management of tours of its artists including SHINee, Red Velvet and NCT

Another prominent K-pop albums and merch supplier, Seoul Stop, based in the Philippines has announced a halt to restocking any of the group's albums and merchandise to support the artist's unfair departure. The account has close to 150K followers on social media platform X.

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The seven-member boy group debuted on September 4, 2023, with their single Get A Guitar. Four of the seven members including Shotaro, Sungchan, Eunseok, and Seunghan were showcased to the viewers early on through their activities as SM Rookies and alongside NCT. Shotaro and Sungchan debuted with NCT in 2020 before leaving it in May 2023.

Two months into their debut, in November 2023, SM Entertainment announced an indefinite hiatus for Seunghan following a controversy regarding his leaked pre-debut photos. After 10 months, the company announced his comeback in the group with the resumption of activities in November 2024. However, following a backlash from Korean fans, the company retracted its statement and announced the singer's departure from the group in less than 48 hours.