The production team made the announcement following the controversial confirmation of his return from hiatus earlier this week.
On Sunday, October 13, Wizard Productions, which handles the K-pop boy group RIIZE under SM Entertainment, announced the departure of Seunghan from the team.
In a statement, Wizard first expressed their apologies to fans, called BRIIZE, for what they described as “hurtful” and “confusing” statement that they initially shared regarding Seunghan on Friday, October 11.
On that day, Wizard said that Seunghan will be rejoining RIIZE after his year-long hiatus that began in November 2023.
However, the message caused friction with a sector of the fandom, chiefly Korean fans, who had reacted with the demand of his removal from the team.
“First, we sincerely apologize for hurting BRIIZE [RIIZE’s fandom] and causing confusion through our announcement of Seunghan’s return on October 11,” they said in the first part of their new statement as translated by Korean entertainment portal Soompi.
“We feel particularly apologetic for prioritizing Wizard Production’s position, instead of making our top priorities the growth achieved by the six RIIZE members while working their hardest; the support of BRIIZE, who have been RIIZE’s greatest source of strength during that journey; and the preciousness of the times that RIIZE and BRIIZE have spent together,” they added.
The production team then shared that following the backlash on Seunghan’s return, they have decided to deliberate anew.
Alongside that, they revealed that Seunghan himself had also insisted on leaving the group permanently “for the sake of the members and the fans.”
“Out of respect for the artist’s decision, we are announcing Seunghan’s departure from RIIZE, instead of his joining the group. We will support Seunghan in the future so that he can showcase his talents and follow his dreams,” Wizard continued.
The management also reiterated their support for the other six members, and promised fans that they will continue giving RIIZE their continued support as a company.
To end, Wizard said that it “will be careful and cautious” in matters concerning RIIZE in the future.
RIIZE was first revealed to the public in August 2023 and dropped the pre-debut single titled ‘Memories,’ which was unveiled weeks before their official debut song, and a performance of ‘Siren’ — which was released as a full track earlier this year.
Later on, they made their official debut as a seven-member team on September 4, 2023 with their debut single, the viral sensation ‘Get A Guitar.’
They have also released another single the following month titled ‘Talk Saxy.’
It was on November 22, 2023, SM Entertainment said that Seunghan decided to pause his activities to reflect on his past actions, which he was “apologetic” about towards the team and members, and fans.
Since his hiatus, the group continued as a six-piece group with Shotaro, Eunseok, Sungchan, Wonbin, Sohee, and Anton, and released ‘Love 119,’ ‘Impossible,’ and ‘Boom Boom Bass,’ which are all part of their extended play ‘Riizing’ that was released last June 2024.
In August, the six-member line-up also brought the band’s ‘Riizing Day’ fan-concert to Manila, which was also their first-ever solo engagement in the country.