ZEROBASEONE’s Sung Hanbin Is Under Fire For Mentioning Rapper Ravi On “Boys Planet”

On April 20, Mnet‘s survival show Boys Planet revealed the final lineup for their new group ZEROBASEONE. Sung Hanbin ranked second in the final lineup, and when he made his speech, some netizens were not happy.

Upon winning second place, Sung Hanbin expressed his gratitude.

I firmly believe that the heart of supporting someone is never easy and simple… As each vote is precious, I’m very proud of where I stand right now.

— Sung Hanbin

Then he listed some people he wanted to thank—but netizens did not feel comfortable with one of the names he mentioned.

I got a lot of strength from THE L1VE, Studio Glide, CEO Ravi, manager Jung Eun, who always rooted for me and stood by my side. Thank you so much.

— Sung Hanbin

The reason why he mentioned rapper Ravi is because Sung Hanbin belongs to Studio Glide, one of the labels which Ravi established.

Netizens were not pleased to hear rapper Ravi’s name because he recently was caught in controversy for attempting to avoid military service through a military broker and faking an epilepsy diagnosis. Considering how mandatory military service is legally required for all able-bodied Korean men, he was sentenced to two years in prison. Evading military service is highly frowned upon by Korean society.

Ravi is currently restricted from appearing on KBS. On April 13, a rerun of KBS2‘s 2 Days and 1 Night was temporarily suspended because of his appearance in the episode.

Netizens expressed their disappointment at Sung Hanbin, not understanding why he mentioned someone who is under controversy. Some commented, “I woke up immediately when he mentioned Ravi,” and “This is the only flaw perfect Sung Hanbin has.”

Meanwhile, Sung Hanbin and eight other trainees from Boys Planet will be debuting as ZEROBASEONE.