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Korean EXO-Ls demand the removal of Chen and Chanyeol by sending protest trucks to SM Entertainment

Sorry, but EXO will always be nine.

South Korean fans and international fans don’t always see eye to eye in every situation. This is one major example of it.

For years, the South Korean fans of SM Entertainment boy group EXO have been demanding for the removal of 2 of the group’s members—Chen and Chanyeol, for different reasons. Now that the group is soon to return with a brand-new comeback after 2 years, Korean fans are moving to protest the participation of the said members.

On Friday, May 26, 2023, “OT6” fans of EXO sent protest trucks to the SM Entertainment building to express their demands.

The sentences on the trucks are as follows: “Kick out Chen and Chanyeol who are hurting the group, stop deceiving the fans, EXO doesn’t need vicious members, Chen and Chanyeol OUT,” and “Maintain EXO’s OT6 system, promotion guarantee, Protect your artists, SM stop being bystanders.”

The fans, represented by user @/outccout_ on Twitter, released their statement detailing their demands:

“EXO fandom (hereinafter referred as EXO-L) demands the departure of Chen (Kim Jong-dae) and Chanyeol (Park Chan-yeol) from the group. This arises from a series of controversies linked to their personal lives, which EXO-L believes are negatively impacting the group’s professional image. Since January 2020, the fandom has been relentlessly campaigning for Kim Jong-dae and Park Chan-yeol’s exit from EXO. However, SM Entertainment has maintained a deafening silence on the matter, and both artists have continued to perform under the EXO banner since their return from military service.

There is no doubt that there is a negative public opinion toward Kim Jong-dae and Park Chan-yeol, who maintained their idol activities after causing controversy over their private lives.”

In 2020, both Chen and Chanyeol were embroiled in “scandals” surrounding their personal lives. Chen had announced his premarital pregnancy and marriage to his now-wife then, much to the surprise of fans. Chen later on got married, enlisted in the military, and is now a father to 2 daughters.

Chanyeol, on the other hand, was claimed by a person claiming to be his ex-girlfriend, to have inappropriate relations with a number of women. SM Entertainment and Chanyeol did not address the issue, much to the dismay of the fans.

While Korean fans are clamoring for the removal of Chen and Chanyeol, international EXO-Ls have banded together to claim that “EXO IS NINE” all over Twitter.

Again, EXO will always be nine. If you can’t support all of them, then you’re not an EXO-L.

 

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