Seventeen's Seungkwan warns fans after hometown friend caused financial harm using his name
On Aug. 2, Seungkwan went live to debunk a false rumor about prepaying for fans at a restaurant—and confirm that a childhood friend had solicited money from fans using his name.
Seventeen's Seungkwan took to Weverse Live on August 2 to address two separate incidents involving a childhood friend from his hometown of Jeju. One was a false rumor. The other caused real financial harm to fans.
Online stories claimed Seungkwan had prepaid for fans at a Jeju meat restaurant operated by the friend. Not true. The friend exists. The prepayment doesn't. What did happen: that same friend solicited money from fans by invoking his relationship with Seungkwan, claiming it was for Seventeen concert ticket purchases. Seungkwan has since cut contact with him.
"Carats are my top priority, so the most important thing is that there is no damage to Carats," Seungkwan said. He also cited that concern when explaining why he'd taken down his Jeju promotional ambassador appointment vlog. He asked any fans who suffered financial harm to email Pledis Entertainment directly, and urged Carats not to take actions that would negatively affect the restaurant itself.
"I'm sorry for bringing up something heavy, but I felt I needed to say it to feel at ease," he said. "I would like it to be known when I do something good, but this is something I didn't do."
The statement arrives as the Seventeen unit Doyeom X Seungkwan (도겸X승관) maintains momentum. Their mini album 소야곡 (Soyagok) hit half-million seller status on release day. Title track Blue, a ballad, reached No. 1 on major domestic music charts and topped Spotify's Daily Viral Song ranking across major Asian regions including Japan. The album landed at No. 1 on Japan's Oricon Daily Album Ranking, No. 1 in the EP category of China's QQ Music Digital Bestseller Album chart, and charted on the US Billboard 200.
Their solo tour DxS [SERENADE] ON STAGE spanned five domestic and international cities across 12 total performances. It opened in Incheon in April, then moved through Chiba, Daegu, and Macau. The most recent stop, July 24–26 at Kaohsiung Arena, drew approximately 31,000 audience members.
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