We urge UNCORE to consider Close Your Eyes’ well-being, safety, and reputation and properly protect them.

Background

Close Your Eyes is a 7-member boy group under UNCORE. They were formed through a JTBC survival show by the name “Project 7” in December 2024, later making their debut on April 2nd 2025. In the past 10 months, the group has been mistreated and mismanaged by its company, as demonstrated by several occasions where the members' health and safety have been compromised.

Moscow Concert April 11th, 2026

On January 21st, 2026, the group’s official TikTok page reposted a video from Privet Korea, in which the organiser announced that Close Your Eyes was scheduled to hold a concert in Moscow, Russia.

This caused massive backlash from the fandom because not only would it put the group’s reputation and safety on the line, but it would also endanger the lives of many Ukrainians. Russia has been considered a terrorist state for the past four years, but the country has been targeting Ukraine for longer than that. And as of now, it is largely recognized by the public that Russia is committing mass genocide against the people of Ukraine.

The event organisers only allowed payments within Russia's premises, and if anybody in another country would like to attend, someone from within the country would have to buy the tickets. This is money going that will be contributing to the Russian government via tax, and therefore, more of that tax money will be distributed to the Russian military, ultimately funding attacks on Ukraine.

Protests started immediately and the boycott started trending, but UNCORE made no statement and ignored the fandom for a long period of time. They continued to ignore the issue even when protest trucks were sent directly outside of the UNCORE building and near their parent company, JTBC. This showed just how little UNCORE truly cared about the fandom's voices and concerns.

During this, Privet Korea had been deleting any comments that contained negative sentiments towards the company and the concert, even going as far as just blocking people who were against it. As of writing this, they continue to do this. Fans also attempted to contact other people who work with UNCORE, like Hong Jeongdo, the vice chairman at JTBC. This, unprofessionally, resulted in many fans being simply blocked.

It was solidified that UNCORE had no intention of cancelling the concert in Russia through a lengthy announcement on X. This statement essentially said that the choice to perform in Russia was not to be taken as a political stance, as they want the group's music to be accessible worldwide. They also urged fans to separate politics from art, and minimised the situation as a whole

The last part directly goes against their past decisions of not allowing Kenshin and Jingxiang to attend fan events in China and Japan, respectively, due to the political tensions between both countries.

It is strongly believed that the members have absolutely no say in these decisions and, more importantly, do not want to be performing there. To be clearer, they are under a contract, which fans have speculated leaves 0 room to argue. And especially as a rookie group, their opinions might not be taken as seriously in matters like these. They haven't mentioned the concert at all, and members have liked fan letters on Weverse that are explicitly in protest of the planned schedule in Russia. None of this is against the members themselves.

Canada Tour

Another problem that arose was the announcement of their Canadian tour. UNCORE announced concert stops in Canada, where they would work with J&B Entertainment. J&B is notorious for being a terrible entertainment company, from mistreating their idols to literally leaking their personal information. Some notorious things they have done to past idols under their management include: selling their clothes, leaking their schedules/hotel information, and collaborating with sasaengs at some point. They are also highly unprofessional, as they have blocked people who speak up against them—sometimes even doxxing those users. It is highly advised not to support any tour handled by them, and we worry greatly for CYE’s safety in the hands of this company.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Concert

UNCORE also announced a concert in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The issue around this concert arose due to its original date on March 14th, 2026. This would have been during the time period of Ramadan, which meant many would not be able to attend, as Malaysia has a high Muslim population. This date was eventually rescheduled to be on March 28th, 2026, but the whole thing could have been avoided easily had there been proper research. Additionally, this was changed while fans were both protesting against the concert in Russia and the organisers of the Canada tour, which demonstrates UNCORE’s selective ignorance towards the issues they face.

Ticket prices for this concert date were released at the end of February, and immediately raised questions about how they got approved. Considering this is CYE’s first world tour/Malaysian concert, and a relatively new group, the prices have been considered disproportionate, with the cheapest tickets going on sale for around RM458 (approx. 117 USD), going up to RM858 (approx. 220 USD).

Issues Regarding the Members’ Health & Well-being

On February 19th, 2026, UNCORE announced through Close Your Eyes' official X page that one of the members, Yeojun, was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis and had to be hospitalised.

Rhabdomyolysis is a medical condition that occurs when damaged muscle tissue breaks down and releases electrolytes and proteins into the blood, and enters the circulation system. It's a relatively uncommon condition that is not always easy to spot, and getting adequate treatment is crucial, as rhabdo can lead to kidney failure, permanent disability, or death. This led to many fans, and even people outside the fandom, to express their concern as to what led to him having said condition (especially considering he’s barely 20).

Rhabdomyolysis is often caused by physical injury or trauma, high-intensity exercise, certain medications, and is worsened by severe dehydration. In this case, there has been speculation that this has most likely been caused by the company overworking him, which has been made clearer by their demanding work schedules.

Even though Yeojun’s treatment was expected to be just a week and detected early, one week is not enough time to get fully treated. He needs more rest, yet he was expected to continue working soon (having a video call and fansign on February 28th, which was just a little over a week from the announcement). Not having a proper resting period to get adequate treatment could lead to a resurgence, which can be dangerous and leave long-term effects on his health.

On October 14th, 2025, there was a statement on CYE’s official X account informing fans that Kenshin was hospitalised due to flu-like symptoms, but ended up getting diagnosed with shingles. It was reported that he would undergo treatment and take a short hiatus from the group’s activities.

Even though this isn’t a life-threatening condition, shingles is normally dealt with later in life (the usual age range being 50 and older), and its primary causes include stress and a weakened immune system. Kenshin was only 17 at the time. For Kenshin, it most likely had to do with the strenuous schedules, the arduous practising, and the constant flights the group has to do/take. 

Before this information, Kenshin was visibly uncomfortable when moving and most likely showing early signs of the condition. And although he was still expected to attend fan events, he was exempt from physically demanding activities such as performing. Which is alright, but if there were already concerns regarding his health, there should have been better precautions to let him rest.

Even earlier in the year, Kenshin was unwell while recording “Close to Close Your Eyes,” which had the basic premise of showing the group’s interactions in a setting away from the city. Kenshin was featured in the first two episodes, but was sent to get proper rest by the third. Kyoungbae, the maknae / youngest member, was also unwell, but recovered quickly and seemed to be doing better later on.

Again, although it's good that UNCORE sent Kenshin away to properly recover, it raises the concern of why have your artist participate when they are unwell.

In June of 2025, the official X account for Close Your Eyes released another statement where it was reported that Jingxiang was suffering from a cold and body aches.

This does not cover all the moments where members have been sick, but where the company made statements to the public. Their poor health as a 10-month group leaves many fans wondering just how much they are being overworked to reach these levels of unhealthiness. 

Their practice sessions are also known to run well past midnight. The members' DMs occasionally mention being busy practising very late, and recently, an interview with CNN World made it clear that they barely even have time to rest between practice periods. Their leader, Minwook, even admitted that the group has long work schedules and little to no sleep.

Lee Hae-in Issue 

Lee Hae-in, a South Korean creative director, singer, and former contestant on Produce 101 and Idol School, is currently the EXECUTIVE PRODUCER of CLOSE YOUR EYES.

She previously worked as the CREATIVE DIRECTOR for Kiss Of Life (Kiof) at S2 Entertainment, where she played a major role in the group’s formation, branding, and artistic direction. She helped select members, including her former Idol School colleague Natty, and helped build the group’s concept before leaving the company in late 2024.

Now she’s talking about debuting two new groups, while the situation surrounding CLOSE YOUR EYES keeps getting worse.

Since the start of 2026, the management decisions surrounding CYE have genuinely started to feel like sabotage.  Instead of building their momentum, everything happening right now is damaging their growth and stability.

What’s even more frustrating is seeing plans for two brand new groups when the company is already clearly understaffed managing their only current group, which isn’t even completely a year old yet.

What company debuts two new groups when they can’t even properly support the one they already have?

CLOSE YOUR EYES had the potential to build a strong career and easily renew their contracts after three years if they were handled correctly. But the way things are going now, it feels like the group is being SET UP TO STRUGGLE,  even though many of the members may not have anywhere else to go after this.

Fans aren’t asking for miracles. We are asking for basic management, safety, and respect for the artists, which is the bare minimum that the group should have.

What can you do to help?

1. Sign this petition and share it with others! Not only will it help the issue gain more traction, but it will also show that people do not stand behind UNCORE’s actions as a company.
2. Boycott Close Your Eyes! Currently, Close Your Eyes is the only group under the company’s management. Boycotting the group = boycotting the company. If you are worried about not listening/watching their content, there are actually resources on x.com to engage with the group without giving the company any sort of streams. Make sure to also unfollow them on every platform (including YouTube, Spotify, X, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, BiliBili, and Weverse), cancel your Weverse subscription(s), avoid buying any merch from official websites (buy second-hand instead!), avoid purchasing concert/event tickets, and don’t stream their music on any platform (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, etc.)
3. Spread awareness and educate yourself! If you have a social media platform and want to raise awareness, here are some of the hashtags that are being used for what’s happening with the group: #WE_REFUSE_CYE_RUSSIA_CONCERT #UncoreStopRussiaConcert #UNCORE_CANCEL_RUSSIA_CONCERT #RussiaIsATerroristState #CLOSEYOUREYES #UNCORE_CANCEL_RUSSIA_TOUR #PROTECTCYE . You can also send protest emails to UNCORE (uncore@sll.co.kr) and SLL (sll@sll.co.kr) with the email template provided here. Also, some information from the source might not have been included (in order to cover the most dire issues), so always make sure to educate yourself on what is happening!