RIIZE Announces Change In Fanclub Name Due To Negative Implications Of The Original Name

It has barely been a day since RIIZE announced their fanclub name on September 4, 2023, as “SUNZ.” The announcement was met with mixed reactions, due to the combination of their group name and SUNZ.

When put together, it sounds similar to “rising sun,” the flag used by the Japanese during the colonialization of South Korea. Koreans — and other Asian countries impacted by Japan’s militarism and imperialism — have long been comparing the Japanese rising sun flag/design to the Nazi swastika, as the Japanese imperial navy used the flag in the early 20th century when Japan colonized South Korea.

RIIZE Announce Their Fanclub Name, But There Is Concern Over A Possible Controversial Meaning

On September 6, 2023, SM Entertainment announced that RIIZE would be changing their fanclub name to “BRIIZE.”

We will be making an announcement about RIIZE’s Official Fanclub.

Hello. We sincerely thank all the fans who have been sending much support to RIIZE’s debut. Amidst the plentiful support from fans, on September 4, at the same time of debut, we announced the official name of the fanclub that will be together with RIIZE in the future. We chose “SUNZ,” which had the most votes amongst the fans. However, although we did not mean for it, there were many opinions by fans that were worried the name could be heard with a negative meaning. Hence, it became a situation where SUNZ, who are to grow together with RIIZE, could have its good meaning distorted.

SUNZ was a name that carried the good intentions of all the fans who are supporting RIIZE, and it was decided upon with the meaning of growing together with RIIZE.

Even so, we will be changing the fanclub name to “BRIIZE,” which received the second most amount of votes. We hope for the generous understanding of fans.

RIIZE’s official fanclub BRIIZE will be open for service officially on September 12, and we will use it to inform everyone of RIIZE’s official activities, so please show it lots of interest. Thank you.

— SM Entertainment

With the new change, hopefully there will be no more room for misunderstandings!