As of 10th March 2026, BELIFT LABS released a statement announcing that Lee Heeseung will be leaving ENHYPEN to pursue a solo career.
Before I continue, read my article of what happened throughout the first week here.
UPDATE 9 – LAST-MINUTE CANCELLATIONS:
It was previously established that Heeseung would participate in an online fan-sign which was originally meant to be late March, is now cancelled entirely for Heeseung; it is rumoured to happen on the 22nd March instead, but with all these delays, rescheduling and cancelling, it is confusing on what to trust anymore.
Fans are outraged as his departure was announced whilst there were still The Sin: Vanish promotions are ongoing, which are then cancelled last-minute. The fans want clear answers immediately. Moreover, for this event, Ni-ki won’t be included due to Japan-China disputes. This also happened on March 8th 2026, 2 days before the Heeseung departure announcement. It was first an ot6 event on 08/03/2026, now it will be ot5 on 21/03/2026 as Heeseung is no longer a member. Until a clear explanation is given, fans will continue to Shout Out.
UPDATE 10 – FANS PORTRAYED IN A BAD LIGHT:
South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) is a major shareholder in HYBE, which is the parent company of the K-pop group, ENHYPEN’s management agency, BELIFT LAB. Today, 18th March 2026, it has been announced by Kim Sung Joo, the chief executive of NPS, in a Facebook post that their international support centre was flooded with fans, not allowing those who need assistance to receive it; their work does not interfere with individual companies, to say they don’t have control over the Heeseung situation. However, this would’ve been happening since 10th March 2026, so why release this information now? Are they trying to drown out other news which may be released? Moreover, BTS (who are also under HYBE, BELIFT LABS) have their album comeback is this Friday (20th March 2026), the timing of these articles being released is suspicious; it has came out 2 days before the petition which brought in 2 millions signs is being handed in, 2 days before the BTS album release and 3 days before the scheduled Annual General Meeting (AGM) shareholder’s voting window which may consider Heeseung’s situation. Just to add, the AGM notice was filed with South Korea’s financial regulator on March 10th – the same day that BELIFT LAB announced Heeseung’s departure from ENHYPEN.
This seems a little confusing at first, but ENGENE’s think that they may discuss the Heeseung controversy as it the fan activism is going beyond borders (reaching NPS).
Lastly, there is a google document that an ENHYPEN fan has made which includes all the detailed information of who is important and why. You can find this here. Also including email templates in multiple languages to send to HYBE staff to fully illustrate concerns that they are not just angry fans, they are willing to fight for their favourites, even as it turns to what many would call it Fatal Trouble.
UPDATE 11 – EVERY LAST PENNY:
BELIFT insists that Heeseung has left the group and will not return, yet continue to involve him in ENHYPEN’s schedule. On 19th March 2026, a fan-call schedule was released listing Heeseung as an attending artist, with his participation also appearing on a separate day.
I understand that this may have been pre-planned, as most things are. However, from the image, it’s clear that the youngest member, Ni-ki, has black and white hair—something that was only dyed just before Christmas Day (2025). Heeseung’s departure was said to be handled with “considerate deliberation”, but is less than three months really enough time for something so trajectory-changing for a group to be considered? Even if it was, why include him in this event? It all feels Mixed Up, as though BELIFT are trying to use Heeseung as much as they can, with the justification being that he was technically involved in the last album comeback.
UPDATE 12 – “THE 6 OF US”?
Today, on 21st March 2026, the youngest member, Ni-ki went live on Weverse – the day that he is absent from a group event due to Japan-China disputes and when the HYBE shareholder voting window opens – and spoke about their XO choreography. He said it looks odd with just him doing it, but it looks good with “the 6 of us”, as if to confirm it will remain 6. Although it is a strange thing to say as they have not performed XO (Only If You Say Yes) choreography as 6, only as 7. Either hinting at a choreo change for all songs or, some are saying that he had been told to mention it, as the Heeseung protests are not fading away and that the fans may listen to an actual member saying it. Unfortunately, that is not the case, they have still not backed down in hopes of getting Heeseung back, even if it’s Just A Little Bit of hope they’re holding onto. Moreover, it could be a mistranslation, some are saying that it translates to “6 others” excluding himself from the statement, not just 6 together. The validity of this section is low, as I am not fluent in Korean and can not know for certain whether people translating it are tweaking the truth for hope or not, as it has been done before.
UPDATE 13 – HEESEUNG FANCALLS AND JUNGWON’S WEVERSE MESSAGES:
Today, March 22nd 2026, Heeseung had scheduled online fan-calls which he attended; in many, fans are saying his smile does not look genuine. The only time he looked at ease/ genuinely happy was when a fan on the call spoke about video games, which ENGENE’s know Heeseung loves to play. After that moment, he had resumed to his self from a few seconds before, where he looked slightly anxious and kept looking to the side and down, as if reading a script. He also mentioned that he is soon releasing his album, which we assume is a solo album, not the one Ni-ki teased ENHYPEN is working on yesterday on Weverse live.
The sources for my claims:
There are also many videos psychoanalysing his behaviours on the call coming to conclusions that he isn’t happy, but then there are videos saying that maybe it really was his choice in the end. How ever will we know?
Jungwon has resumed posting frequently on Weverse, and two of his replies particularly stood out. In one, he responded to a fan apologising with, “I’m sorry too” (Screenshot 1) — but sorry for what? In another, when told he had worked hard, he replied, “ENGENE worked harder” (Screenshot 2). But in what way? The only significant thing ENGENEs have done recently is protest for Heeseung’s return — could this be a subtle way of encouraging that, or something else entirely?
If anything, it only highlights the growing pressure to Make The Change — yet nothing is being clearly addressed.
UPDATE 14 – FUTURE ACTIVITIES AND SUNOO FANCALL:
Today, 23rd March 2026, a fan even schedule was released and it showed all 7 individuals on it.
While the other six members are each hosting in-person fansign/café events with 30 winners, Heeseung will not be in attendance. Instead, he has double the number of winners (60) for video calls, making his workload significantly higher—despite his option also being the more expensive one.
With Heeseung still scheduled for events until May 12th, the claim that his departure is being planned becomes increasingly questionable—his continued inclusion almost feels like a Daydream. If he is no longer part of the group and is pursuing solo activities, why does he continue to be included?
Also, Sunoo was asked for tour spoilers; he replied to the fan saying it is a big deal to prepare a stage for 6 people. The OP said it could be a mistranslation, but in the video Sunoo even holds up 6 fingers. There is no tour schedule released yet, but they are to perform in Abu Dhabi for the second time, in April 2026, most likely as a 6.
The source for my claim:
I could be reaching here, but Sunoo’s eyes are darting from side to side, instead of maintaining eye-contact with the fan – is that not strange to anyone?
UPDATE 16 – HEESEUNG REMOVAL:
As of 27/03/2026 at around 9:00 KST, Heeseung has been removed from Weverse, under ENHYPEN’s section on BELIFT’s website and ENHYPEN’s Spotify description. The description on Weverse has also been changed from “7 members” to something else.
As you can see in the photo above, the team have made the mistake of not changing the 3rd last sentence – seems a bit tacky for a big company.
However, around the same time this this change was made, another fan event was released, where it specified Heeseung will be in Japan on 24th May 2026. Heeseung officially left the group on 10th March 2026, yet this is dragging close to the middle of the year.
He is not a part of the group, so why does his presence suggest he still has a place to call Home?
UPDATE 17 – WORLDWIDE REACH:
On 28th March 2026, the hashtag “ENGENES_MADE_ENHYPEN_7” was number 1 in trending hashtags on X worldwide.
This really shows the international support for an ENHYPEN with 7 members. Will the fans’ efforts pay off before an alleged announcement or decision on 31st March at 10AM, or is this outcome already Blind to change?
UPDATE 18 – OT6 WORLD TOUR?
As of 00:00 on 31st March 2026 (KST), BELIFT has announced a ten-month long world tour, “BLOOD SAGA”, on Weverse, the day that ENGENE’s expected news about Heeseung. They used a poster with 6 members on the front – excluding Heeseung.
Fans were distraught and furious that there are 6 members on the poster, and soon an “original” copy of the poster was spread on social media:
The photo in larger scale –
You can clearly see there are 7 members here, which goes to show that he was meant to be apart of the tour. Moreover, 2 days before his announced departure he had spoiled their tour on national tv and on a fancall on March 7th 2026, 3 days before the announcement – which further shows that his leave was a last-minute decision. The validity of this photo being real is a mystery, though some of the actual organisers of the tour used this photo to advertise the upcoming event such as Peru’s, which you can see here.
With little time now, all that remains is the outcome – and whether the voices of fans will have made any difference at all.
Note: Due to the developing nature of this situation, and its personal impact, I will not be providing further minor updates at this time.
mominatalks 