RIIZE's Seunghan has written another apology for his latest controversy.
On November 22, KST, SM Entertainment announced the decision to suspendSeunghan from RIIZE's activities due to the recent controversy over his personal life. According to the announcement, the idol will be excluded from RIIZE's activities indefinitely.
SM Entertainment stated, "Seunghan is sincerely sorry and reflects on the disappointment and confusion caused to the team and members as well as the fans due to issues related to his personal life. Seunghan felt a burden and responsibility and after deep consideration, made the best choice for the team. He expressed his intention to suspend his activities. We respected his opinion and decided to suspend his activities indefinitely."
Earlier this week, Seunghan was embroiled in another controversy over his private life when a live stream video from his private social media account was leaked. K-netizens were displeased with Seunghan badmouthing another idol while carelessly mentioning a female idol as if he was personally close to her. Following the video leak, another video of him smoking on the streets was leaked.
This is not the first time Seunghan has been at the center of attention due to his controversial personal life. Earlier in August, Seunghan caused a stir when alleged pre-debut photos of Seunghan and his suspected girlfriend at a hotel went viral on the web.
Despite the controversy, Seunghan continued participating in group activities after he posted an apology on the group's social media page.
On November 22, Seunghan released another handwritten apology, delivering his sincere regret.
He wrote:
"Hello, this is Seunghan.
First of all, I want to sincerely apologize. I am well aware that my past thoughtless actions are causing a lot of harm to many people now. I truly regret and reflect on my behavior. I want to express my deepest apologies to the fans who have supported me and the members of RIIZE.
I deeply regret that I have caused so much damage during a time when I should be working harder and striving for self-improvement. I will genuinely reflect on my actions and make a sincere effort to become a better person.
Once again, I want to apologize to the members, fans, and staff for any inconvenience I have caused."
Korean netizens responded, "Even when you write an apology letter in school you make sure to write clearly and neatly. It's absurd how people are saying it's ridiculous that he's being criticized for looking insincere but in reality, you write better when writing an apology even to your mom or even in your diary," "It's a fact that it's written poorly though," "It's not easy to get criticized for a written apology but looking at his apology..." "Aside from his handwriting, if he wrote it crooked like that, he should've written it on another paper with lines. And he should've asked staff to help him write the letter. I feel like he would have earned some sympathy if he wrote the letter properly and sincerely," "Thinking about the entire team getting entangled with controversy, and the company - considering all of this, I don't think it's excessive that he stops activities indefinitely," "I understand he did wrong but aside from that I hope they catch the leaker and punish them," and "If he suspends activities indefinitely does that mean he's going to return to the group when things calm down?" "He should just drop from the group."