More controversy embroiled around RIIZE's Seunghan?

SM Entertainment's new group RIIZE is continuously embroiled in controversy surrounding Seunghan's scandals, leading to ongoing truck protests by the Korean fandom demanding "Seunghan's withdrawal from the group." The protest slogans being displayed publicly state "Hong Seunghan, the main culprit hindering RIIZE from gaining fans, should take responsibility and leave the group on his own accord."

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Seunghan's bed photo with his ex-girlfriend was leaked in the past, and recently a live stream video on his personal account with TOMORROW X TOGETHER's leader Soobin was also leaked. In the video, Seunghan said to Soobin, “If you can't sing, can't dance, and can’t rap, then go become the host of 'Music Bank'.” Moreover, the video mentioned LE SSERAFIM's Hong Chae Eun, which led to rumors involving Soobin in a romantic relationship.

Just when one issue has not yet settled, another one surfaces. Following the leak of the live streaming video, a new scandal erupted involving Cheng Han smoking at the roadside. The controversy lies in the fact that netizens revealed Seunghan was underage while smoking on the streets of Japan. They further explained that in Japan, even for foreigners, it is illegal for minors to smoke.

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The news immediately sparked heated discussions among fans in both Japan and Korea. In addition to the already hot topics in the Korean fan community such as the live broadcast incident and the ex-girlfriend's bed photo scandal, an underage individual smoking on the streets of Japan led Japanese fans to outright label Seunghan as a criminal. Numerous comments on forums demanded that SM Entertainment take swift action to address calls for his withdrawal from the group, with some even expressing sentiments like, "I'm beginning to dislike SM Entertainment."

However, when a Korean netizen translated content from Japanese fan forums and shared it on Korean discussion boards, it inadvertently struck a nerve with the Korean netizen's sense of nationalism. The comment section, initially meant to discuss Cheng Han's withdrawal from the group, deviated into a comparison and critique meeting concerning 'dishonorable idols' from both countries.

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Korean netizens expressed their views, saying, "Dislike SM Entertainment?", "It's not like all of the people in Johnny's are angels, right?", "Anyway, it's not your Johnny's family, why are you getting so worked up?", "We can find fault with our SM by ourselves, there's no need for you Johnny's fans to pick apart anything."

However, some rational netizens believe that "What does Johnny's have to do with it? They're just a group of fans who understand Kpop," and "They're fans of RIIZE, who else should they comment on if not RIIZE? Why bring up Johnny's here?" Even as the controversy over Seunghan's withdrawal from the group has not yet settled, Korean netizens have already opened up a new battlefield.