SEVENTEEN singer Seungkwan has posted a lengthy message on Instagram about the K-pop industry and voicing his support for fellow idols.
Last week, K-pop company HYBE disclosed company documents during a National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism committee audit. Several pages of documents that allegedly contained disparaging remarks about K-pop artists have since been leaked, sparking outrage from K-pop fans both domestically and internationally.
Amid the ongoing controversy, SEVENTEEN vocalist Seungkwan has shared a message speaking up for his group and fellow K-pop idols. “I don’t want to see people hurting each other anymore,” he wrote per Soompi. “I feel that I can no longer stay silent for all my colleagues who are working hard even at this moment, my fans, my members, my people who are getting hurt.”
The singer wrote that while there are parts of being a celebrity to be endured, he did not believe that “it is a job where we have to endure to the point of self-destruction, getting hurt until the brink of death.”
“We have experienced enough pain, fallen apart, and somehow overcome it, putting in tenacious effort to show our best on stage for our fans,” he said of SEVENTEEN and their peers in the K-pop industry. “I hope people don’t take idols lightly.”
“You don’t have the right to easily intrude on our narrative. Not just us, but other artists as well, we are not your items. I hope you don’t think you can use and enjoy us as you please,” Seungkwan continued.
He went on to express his gratitude for the words of encouragement and interactions exchanged with other K-pop idols, adding that they gave him strength.
“I don’t want to see my members, all my colleagues who are working hard right now, the staff who have sincerely worked for us, and our fans getting hurt anymore. To the fans who are loving us warmly even at this moment, I want to say I’m sorry and I love you,” he finished.
The singer also included a photo of a handwritten letter from NMIXX member Haewon, which she sent when the group gifted him their latest mini-album ‘Fe3O4: STICK OUT’. In it, she thanked him for his sincerity as a senior in the industry, calling his music “a source of motivation, empathy, memories, and also comfort at times”.
Seungkwan debuted in 2015 under Pledis Entertainment as part of SEVENTEEN. In 2020, HYBE Labels became the majority shareholder of Pledis Entertainment and officially acquired the company. It now operates as an independent label under HYBE.