'Leaving ENHYPHEN' Heeseung spoke up: 'I'm a little sorry'

Singer Heeseung who left ENHYPEN. Provided by Belift Lab

Heeseung, who left ENHYPEN, revealed his feelings for the first time since his departure.

On the 22nd, during a video call event with fans, Heeseung said, 'You must have been really surprised, but I'm okay. Still, on one hand I feel a bit sorry.'

This was a direct remark made about two weeks after the official announcement on the 10th of Heeseung's departure and ENHYPEN's reorganization into a six-member lineup.

Reactions from domestic and international fandoms surrounding this have been extremely divided, causing internal strife. On social networking services (SNS) and elsewhere, some fandoms criticize Heeseung's independent actions as selfish, while opposing voices defending him counter those opinions.

Some extreme fans have continued collective actions, treating unconfirmed rumors—such as claims of his 'forced expulsion'—as fact, based on the phrase 'the direction proposed by the company' found in a handwritten letter Heeseung left at the time of his departure.

In particular, critics say their collective actions have gone beyond the scope of normal fandom activities. Some fans not only held daily truck protests in front of the agency HYBE's building, but also carried out cyber harassment by swarming the agency producers' SNS and leaving malicious comments.

They even created the farce of paralyzing the National Pension Service's operations by placing thousands of protest calls to the National Pension Service—despite it having no relation to Heeseung's departure—simply because it is a major shareholder of HYBE.

As the K-pop industry's reach expands globally, voices are growing louder that it is urgent to establish a mature fan culture that refrains from indiscriminate attempts to influence public opinion and extreme collective actions.

Reporter Lee Seonmyeong [email protected]