SEVENTEEN's leader S.Coups has been under scrutiny and criticism since it was announced earlier this year that he would be exempted from military service due to an ACL injury he sustained in August 2023.

Despite his injury being deemed a Grade 5 during a physical examination, which automatically exempts him from enlistment, he faced criticism.

S.Coups was on hiatus from the group for several months due to his injury and had to undergo surgery during his recovery process.

It wasn't until March that S.Coups was able to rejoin some of SEVENTEEN’s group activities, albeit in a limited capacity to avoid the risk of reinjury.

However, a short clip from one of the group’s performances from late March has recently gained attention online.

The screenshot from the clip appears to show S.Coups jumping high during a performance while the other members are just standing.

This led to renewed criticism of him for allegedly "avoiding" military enlistment.

Comments from some Korean netizens on the post were highly critical. However, upon viewing the full clip, it appears that the screenshot was taken out of context.

S.Coups didn’t jump that high to begin with, and it turns out he was just a beat ahead of the other members in the choreography.

Others shared that he actually took a lot of breaks and was careful for the majority of the performance.

Many fans have come to his defense in this matter, reminding people that it was the military itself, and not S.Coups, that refused to let him enlist.

Some fans do think that he could have taken it a little easier due to the harsh criticism he’d already received for the military exemption, but it’s possible he was just so excited to be on stage again that he couldn’t help himself!

As the debate continues, fans are eagerly awaiting more updates from S.Coups and are sending their love and support to the star.

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IVE is on fire, winning big even when the odds are against them!

On January 30, IVE (Ahn Yujin, Gaeul, Rei, Jang Wonyoung, Liz, and Leeseo) made waves by taking home their fifth music show win with their pre-release song “Rebel Heart.” Despite M Countdown being off the air and replaced with a highlight show, IVE still claimed the top spot for the final week of January.

The show revealed the winner at the end, and to everyone’s surprise, IVE secured their second consecutive #1 victory!

This major achievement marks a historic milestone for the group, reaching five music show wins with just their pre-release track.

Fans, known as DIVE, couldn’t be more excited, and IVE couldn’t be more grateful. In a statement from Starship Entertainment, the group expressed, "It feels like a surprise gift right before our official comeback. We've only had happy moments promoting 'Rebel Heart,' and we're so thankful for this 1st place win."

They went on to add, "Starting from February 3, we will bring even more happiness to DIVE. The title track 'Attitude' we will release then is a song that we all really love, and we hope DIVE will look forward to it."

“Rebel Heart,” released on January 13, is the pre-release track for IVE’s third mini-album IVE EMPATHY, which will drop on February 3. The song has already been making waves on both domestic and international music charts. It continues to perform well on Billboard, landing at 51st on Billboard Global Excl. U.S. and 97th on Billboard Global 200 as of February 1.

But it’s not just chart success that’s getting attention! The “Rebel Heart” dance challenge on TikTok has taken the internet by storm, with the members’ dance challenge videos collectively surpassing 24.96 million views with just two posts.

Additionally, viral challenges like the emoji challenge and the band challenge—where popular Korean bands perform the chorus of “Rebel Heart” in their own style—have sparked enthusiastic responses from fans all over the world.

With their official comeback just around the corner, IVE is poised for even greater success. Get ready for IVE EMPATHY and the double title tracks, including “Attitude,” coming on February 3.

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