For SEVENTEEN, the ‘Pioneers of K-pop’, even the ‘military leave’ was no obstacle.

SEVENTEEN, a group that has long secured its place as a representative runner of K-pop with its hot global popularity, recently entered what is called a ‘military leave’ (a period of hiatus due to military service) as member Jeonghan became the first member of the group to begin his military service.

However, despite the fact that it will be difficult for them to promote as a full group for the time being, they are drawing attention by ‘overcoming’ the military leave head-on’ by releasing a new album and world tour in succession.

In particular, SEVENTEEN showed their strong will for team activities through their new world tour ‘Seventeen Right Here World Tour in Goyang’, which was held at the main stadium of Goyang Sports Complex on the 12th and 13th, and meticulously comforted the hearts of CARAT (fandom name) who must have been complicated due to their military service.

○‘Surprise release’ of new song for fans

This year alone, SEVENTEEN has performed at Gocheok Sky Dome, Sangam World Cup Stadium, and now at Goyang Sports Complex, which is as large as a stadium. For this concert, 11 members filled the stage, excluding Jeonghan, who started his alternative service as a social service worker on the 26th of last month, and Jun, who could not attend due to scheduled activities in China.

SEVENTEEN, who performed in front of over 58,000 audiences over two days, revealed their strong loyalty to each other by saying, “Although we couldn‘t all be together, Jeonghan and Jun are both people who will return. We will wait for the day we can stand on stage with them and work hard to fill their empty spots until then.”

They also performed the title song ‘Love, Money, Fame’(LMF) of their 12th mini album ‘SPILL THE FEELS’, which will be released on the 14th, and the unit songs ‘Water’, ‘Rain’, ‘Candy’, for the first time in front of their fans on this day. ‘Love, Money, Fame’ has garnered attention with the featuring of American star producer DJ Khaled.

Member Seungkwan said, “I’m happy that I could show the title song to CARAT (fandom) before the release. The energy was different when I received a lot of love and support from CARATs at the concert and then made a comeback. Fortunately, the timing was right and I was able to release it,“ expressing his excitement.

Jeonghan, who is currently serving in alternative service, was in the audience to cheer on the members‘ performance. The members introduced Jeonghan to the fans and sang a verse of the song ‘Adore’ for him.

○ SEVENTEEN’s keyword, ”beginner‘s intention“

SEVENTEEN also incorporated the message of going back to the ”beginner’s intention“ ahead of their 10th anniversary next year throughout the concert. They put back songs from their early promotions, such as ”I Cherish You,“ ”Our Dawn Is Hotter Than the Day,“ and ”Campfire,“ on the setlist, and prepared new stages that were highly requested by fans, such as ”Poison,“ ”Fearless,“ ”Ash,“ and ”If You Leave Me.“

They also recalled special memories with their fans. They reminisced about their original intentions at the time by projecting a photo taken in the Sokcho sea right after their debut in 2015, where they promised, ”If someone changes, let‘s come back to Sokcho and throw ourselves,“ on a large screen.

After wrapping up the concert, the members promised, ”We firmly believe that the 13 of us will definitely get together and perform on stage again. We dare to say that we want to be together under the name SEVENTEEN for the rest of our lives. We will live as SEVENTEEN forever.“ DK and others shed tears, saying, ”While practicing for the concert with the members, we thought about it from our debut days until now. We are so grateful to CARATs.“

SEVENTEEN will continue their tour to the US, Japan, Singapore, and more, while aiming for ‘10 million sales’ this year with their new album ‘Spill the Feels’. They recorded 5.32 million cumulative sales in the first half of the year, and as of the 10th, they have sold 3.46 million copies of their 12th mini-album through pre-orders alone.


Reporter Yoo Ji-hye yjh0304@donga.com