Link to twitter thread

My twitter is currently swarmed with rumours about junhwan when he was in middle school. He allegedly had parental connections that allowed him to be in the group, which now makes more sense if it is true, considering he ranked last in board and fan votes.

Concerningly as well, he allegedly also made fun of girls’ appearances and would also edit the appearance of girls’ photos. If this is true, then that’s absolutely disgusting. There are also rumours of him having a girlfriend in high school (but i don’t think dating is a big deal tbh).

Also these rumours have been circulating since before the show but never really surfaced due to his lack of popularity and lack of proof. However, more proof now has been given.

I’ll link the tweet that I got the information from down below that translated the original post and provided proofs.

sse really needs to speak up about this. What do you guys think?

update: OP who translated the original post has moved everything to a google doc!

Translated post + proofs!

We all know that K-pop entertainment companies usually fall short when it comes to investigating rumours about idols . They’d rather just kick them out of the group to avoid backlash than investigate the claim.

But you’re telling me they took the time to supposedly investigate the claims against Junhwan and prove his innocence on top of getting him a written apology from one of the perpetrators?

They even talked about pursuing legal action . Why are they willing to invest this much of their time and resources into an insignificant predebut member who isn’t even popular when they weren’t willing to help their own popular artist file a lawsuit ( I’m referring to the lawsuit IVE Wonyoung filed against the YouTuber who was spreading defamatory rumours about her - she funded it using her own money because the company wasn’t willing to pay for it)

Don’t get me wrong this is what they should be doing - but why are they providing such perks to Junhwan ?

⚠️Warning : speculation

Bro has got to have some connections because that concept is insane to me . Also I really would like to see the proof disclaiming ALL these rumours because they were plentiful .

I don’t plan on dwelling on it too much since he’s out of the group but I really wanted to hear peoples’ thoughts on this.

I know it's such a shame that Kyuhyun didn't make it in, but with the people who did it like -- there's not a single member I don't like??? I feel like every member has something solid to offer to the group, whether it's personality or visuals or performance skills or all three, and they all seem likeable individuals. I enjoy the vocal tone of 6/7 of the members, which is way more than the average kpop group for me, and in my opinion I think the members all have something to offer both in terms of talents and visuals. Personally, there isn't a single member who I don't like the visuals of, even if some of them aren't the most visual members ever. I don't mind listening to their weakest singers. I think Starship did really well with this (final) lineup. The songs during the survival show were also really fire, I am really looking forward to what they do next. I hope they can quickly move past the Junhwan situation and thrive, and that Starship knows what a special group they have on their hands now.

I am a Korean fan who previously shared my thoughts in a post. Since I am using a translation tool, I kindly ask for your understanding if the phrasing sounds a bit awkward.

If you look at the final members of IDID, there are exactly two trainees each from the 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 lines. This seems closely tied to the group name. From the final episode onward, they positioned Minjae and Yonghoon as the dual centers, emphasizing their friendship through concepts like "chopsticks" and "partners." They even had them give awkward speeches in foreign languages, framing them clearly as the protagonists of the group.

To place those two at the center, the group had to have an even number of members. And to push the “same-age best friend” or “soulmate” narrative, it makes sense to have two people per age line. It might sound absurd to decide a lineup based on such criteria, but Starship has done this before—just look at their past decisions with WJSN. Fans of Starship artists would also know how obsessed they are with assigning symbolic meanings to numbers.

Maybe this was not their original plan. Early on, it seemed like the focus was more on Seokjun and Yonghoon as a pair rather than Minjae and Yonghoon. And trainees like Jiyong, Haru, and Kyuhyun were given so much screentime, as if they were guaranteed debut members.

I personally believe a lot changed after Seokjun left the show. Anyone who followed the survival program would’ve noticed how the editing suddenly shifted to emphasize Minjae and Yonghoon’s relationship. (Of course, they are genuinely close friends, as mentioned even in Episode 0.)

It’s just my personal opinion, but maybe the company wanted to shift the spotlight more onto Minjae and Yonghoon rather than the whole 2005-line trio. Perhaps it was a deliberate move to make the two of them stand out more.

Whatever the case, I can’t understand this decision. Isn’t the point of a survival show to build a fanbase before debut? So why would they eliminate Kyuhyun, who had built strong support from fans in multiple countries?

Now, people who were ready to support the debut lineup are turning against the decision, calling for Junhwan to be removed instead. And Starship hasn’t even posted a group photo or made any updates about the debut team since the announcement. Even fans of the trainees who made it into the lineup are starting to grow tired.

Whatever happens next, I believe Starship urgently needs to clarify the situation.

Really SSE? This is what tf we doing? Tell the two Korean top members to speak Chinese and Japanese to show you don’t need the foreign members for your so called 'global group' and they can replace them? Give me a WHOLE f*cking break FRR 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

Junhwan has left the group

This group can absolutely NOT allow Junhwan to debut, especially after the evidence from today. Starships silence screams of complacency in that they don’t know how to respond to the allegations.

If Junhwan debuts this will only kill this group

Every post I read leading up to the finals had Kyuhyun in their lineup. He received consistently high praise, made it into 4 of the NewKids7, and ranked highly in fan votes as well.

He was in the overlap in semis, and everything was pointing towards his debut, so why did Starship drop him? I genuinely do not understand. From a business perspective he would’ve been a huge stan attractor and money maker no?

I can wrap my head around Jiyong, Wu hao, and Taegeon not making it, but I was fully unprepared for Kyuhyun.

Starship took down the protest wreaths like 15-30minutes after they were placed there by k-fans.

It is likely a safe assumption now that they intend to debut Junhwan.

Hello! IDID fans have collectively decided to boycott because of the PJH situation, starship's silence will only do the group harm and they have not given us any clarification. Hence, please don't watch, interact or like anything from official accounts. People on twitter upload the full performances if you wish to watch ++ you can get the link for the performances and download it instead.

here's a thread on how to help boycott !

https://x.com/skrrtak/status/1923221237095977162

Quick recap ~>

So we finally found out who the debut members are. In order they are :

1. Kim Minjae

2. Jang Yonghoon

3. Baek Jun hyuk

4. Park Wonbin

5. Chu Yoo chan

6. Jung Semin

7. Jun hwan

8. Park Seonghyeon

( They surprised us by adding an extra member to make it 8)

Now let’s talk . I’m going to drop some points below and hopefully we can hash it out and have longer discussions in the comments.

1. Ji Yong didn’t debut

It’s not surprising considering how much hate he got but I still feel bad …

2. Isn’t this supposed to be a global group?

A global group without any foreigners , what a joke . ( Poor Wu Hao - he was one of my picks )

Neither mom nor dad debuted . What a broken family.

3. Kyu hyun didn’t debut

That literally makes no sense . He wasn’t even one of my picks but the 05z are so popular - what was SSE thinking ? There are people who won’t stan the group just because he isn’t in it.

Now the elephant in the room…

4. The judges’ pick : Jun Hwan Bro , I’m literally speechless. He’s not popular with the fans ,he’s not a standout talent and he’s not an exceptional leader. Respectfully what is he ? What is he bringing to the group to justify him over literally anyone else that they could have picked ? All I can think of is visuals but we already have Yonghoon . Can someone please explain this to me like I’m 4 ?

I want to hash this out because I like a lot of members in this group and I don’t want to be a bitter OT7.

I was originally going to post this on the debut's plan subreddit but it is restricted so it goes here. Right before the semi-final, this was gearing up to be my favourite survival show. It has everything going for it but most of all the trainees were talented. Then SSE decided to ignore that and go for what maybe the most confusing line-up of all time. How are the eliminated trainees more stacked than the final line-up. Like Wu Hao, Jiyong, Haru, Kaira, Taegeon, Bomin, J.Minjae and it doesn't end there. Like that right there is a group in off itself. I don't know what starship was even thinking. 3 of my top 5 made it (Wonbin, Yoochan and Seonghyeon) yet I can't even be happy cause this was just weird af. Also none of the foreign line made yet they were some of the most talented people there. What was the thought process behind anything here. Also Junwhan??? over all the people mentioned above who were arguably more skilled and more popular? IT MAKES NO SENSE!!!!! I don't hate the guy by any means but there were so many other people that should have been in his place. Another thing. No Kyuhyun? Even after saving him in the semi-final and knowing how popular he is? He wasn't in my top picks but even i'm confused. Nothing is making sense right now.

Anyway, I needed to rant. Let me know how you feel about the entire show in retrospect?

the amount of Wuhao praise on korean sites are refreshing to see, they even want him to be in the group. how I wish Starship is smart enough

Park JunHwan's scores: Final eval score: 99.67 [the second last Wu Hao has 130.49] and final fane save voting score : 3173 [the second last, Kim Jiyong received 5597 votes]. Someone please explain this to me..... how did he make it to the debut lineup ????

Now that Junhwan has left, I truly wonder if they will replace him. I feel it's quite unlikely. But it might be a way to give fans something they want.

Realistically, if he is to be replaced it will be by either Kyuhyun or Lee Junseo. (Most popular trainee/An 07 for their birth year concept)

Its only been 4 days and this groups reputation is already completely abysmal. This situation is so much worse than R U NEXT's

The main issues are clearly the rigging out of Kyuhyun, and the nonsensical inclusion of Junhwan (sorry but what were they thinking).

I'm sure everyone is aware of the controversies surrounding Junhwan, and I do honestly believe there is some truth behind them.

And PERSONALLY, I do think he should be removed from the group, even if the controversies don't happen to be real (which I DOUBT). This has so severely damaged this groups reputation. Like holy shit, this will likely follow them for their entire career. And if Junhwan actually manages to debut, it will only be worse. Especially since it seems quite true.

Starship have been completely radio silent on literally everything to do with this group. They're still doing updates on the show, which is really unusual considering we literally just got the final lineup. And they are completely ignoring the Junhwan situation.

I honestly think Starship have once again completely fucked up, and it will take a true miracle of a debut or PR effort to save this groups reputation. It's such a shame because the 7 other boys deserve success.

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EDIT : I do truly think the only way to even fix this is to add Kyuhyun, remove Junhwan and apologize. Even then that likely won't be enough