On October 11 KST, SM Entertainment officially announced Seunghan's return to RIIZE.
This marks the RIIZE member's return to activities more than 10 months after he announced a hiatus in November of last year, after becoming wrapped up in a controversy over his private life.
Read SM Entertainment's full statement, below.
"To. BRIIZE, who love RIIZE,
Hello, this is Wizard Production, in charge of producing RIIZE.
We would like to cautiously notify you regarding Seunghan's return to activities as well as RIIZE's future direction.
As many of you know, it has been approximately 10 months since Seunghan halted his activities after becoming involved in a controversy over his private actions during his pre-debut days.
Seunghan admitted to his past mistakes and has been reflecting on his actions for almost a year now, feeling apologetic toward his members and fans. Because we also recognized that Seunghan's past actions were not appropriate for a public figure, it took some time to consider the right moment for his return.
Although we empathized with those whose curiosity over Seunghan's future plans soon turned into worry and concern as time passed, it was inevitable that we consider this matter from various aspects. Therefore, we would like to take this moment to apologize for the late decision regarding RIIZE's future direction.
Because we felt that RIIZE's next chapter, which has been planned with the utmost care since before the team's debut, would be more meaningful if carried out as 7 members, it has been decided through multiple discussions with the staff and the members that Seunghan will resume his activities as a member of the team. Upon his return to the team, Seunghan will take some time to prepare before joining select schedules beginning in November.
During his break, Seunghan continued to hone his skills and has much to show, so we ask that you please show him your warm and welcoming gazes.
Once again, we would like to apologize to the fans who experienced confusion and difficulties while watching over RIIZE's growth. However, because RIIZE is a team that grows and moves forward together as a team, the members are hard at work even at this very moment for the good of the team. Therefore, we ask that you trust in our decision to showcase RIIZE as a 7-member team.
We believe that many are curious to know what's next for RIIZE, how much more they will grow, what they dream of, and how they will fulfill those dreams. Because while we work most closely with RIIZE, we also are fans of RIIZE and are looking forward to their next chapter just as much as you are.
Moving forward, we will continue to dream with RIIZE and ensure that they can repay you with good music and performances. We ask that you remain by the members' sides at every moment of growth and achievements."
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