In an article, a Korean media outlet discussed the sad reason why the currently 10-member group Super Junior is only promoting with nine members.

What Happened to Sungmin? 'Forgotten' 10th Member of Super Junior

On September 30, the Korean media outlet Insight featured the unfortunate reason Super Junior, known as a decet is only showing up in public with nine members, excluding Sungmin.

As a brief background, Super Junior was first launched in 2005 by SM Entertainment and was originally comprised of 12 members. The team has a rotational system, where members will make a release based on the concept they fit into. Kyuhyun then became the 13th member in 2006 prior to becoming a fixed group.

After undergoing numerous member re-organization due to the departure of Hangeng, Kibum and Kangin, the group as of 2022 is a 10-member team.

But in the past years, only nine members were only promoting together, excluding Sungmin. Currently, the members are also active as singers and in their 18th year of career, but they are also active in their respective fields.

In particular, Heechul Kim and Kyuhyun appear in various entertainment programs to deliver laughter, and Siwon has turned into an actor and is gaining huge popularity.

Leeteuk, Yesung, Shindong, Eunhyuk, Donghae, and Ryeowook, who are less active in their personal activities, are also occasionally appearing on TV with the members to show their faces.

However, it is hard to see Sungmin with the members.

In September, Super Junior members held a concert in Jakarta, Indonesia, as part of their world tour and had a good time with local fans.

Sungmin did not show his face at the Super Junior concert in Jakarta, Indonesia as well.

Insight said:

"If you will look at the portal site, it also says Super Junior consists of 10 members, including Sungmin, but ironically, he seems to be missing from official activities"

Various Korean media outlets also now introduce Super Junior as a nine-member team.

What Happened To Sungmin? Here's Idol Status After Being Inactive Super Junior Member

Label SJ confirmed that Sungmin has not officially withdrawn from Super Junior, but why on earth are the members reluctant to mention Sungmin?

Insight then explained that this is interpreted as the fact that most Korean ELFs (fandom) turned their backs on him.

The main root of the problem was that fans felt "betrayed" and "deceived" by Sungmin who married musical actress Kim Saeun in 2014.

This year is a very important time for Super Junior since most of the members are set to have their mandatory military enlistment in 2015. Thus, it will be the last year fans can get to see Super Junior complete before temporary hiatus.

But Sungmin pushed his wedding with Saeun and even flaunted their relationship on social media despite group schedules, accusing him of ignoring fans' feelings.

Sungmin was also criticized for trying to damage Super Junior's image by tying the knot and fans issued statements calling for his withdrawal from the group.

However, Sungmin did not leave Super Junior and focused on his solo career instead. Fans of the decet expressed their regrets that the male idol has not been working with them since Super Junior's 8th album.

On the other hand, Sungmin is still active in the entertainment scene along with his wife Saeun, showing off their affectionate marital love by appearing together in various programs such as TV Chosun's "Miss Trot 2" and "Wife's Taste."

As the couple continues to show off their genuine relationship in public, netizens wonder if this will help Korean ELFs to accept Sungmin again in Super Junior, or if it will affect them negatively, even more.

READ MORE: How Did Super Junior Maintain the Team for 17 Years? Group Reveals Secrets

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Written by Eunice Dawson.