ASTRO Cha Eunwoo's Individual Fan Club Recruitment Sparks Debate

On December 1, ASTRO‘s management, FANTAGIO, announced that member Cha Eunwoo will be recruiting his first official individual fan club. The announcement came from Cha Eunwoo’s new official individual X (Twitter) account.

However, because Cha Eunwoo is still part of ASTRO, and ASTRO is an active group with an established fan club, AROHA, K-Pop fans are questioning the management’s decision to pursue the divide between the group fandom and the member’s fandom.

[#차은우]
CHA EUN-WOO(ASTRO)
OFFICIAL FANCLUB
RECRUITMENT

COMING SOON?

2023.12.05 ~ 2023.12.19#CHAEUNWOO #아스트로 #ASTRO #아로하 #AROHA pic.twitter.com/eLkpR4ltKx

— CHA EUN-WOO OFFICIAL (@CHAEUNWOO_offcl) December 1, 2023

In specific, Korean fans have gathered to discuss the recruitment on social media platforms and other online communities like theqoo. Some believe it’s “rude” to the other ASTRO members, as well as AROHAs.

“Well, Cha Eunwoo needs new fans because he’s going to keep being active. But perhaps FANTAGIO thought it’s too soon to recruit group fans because of what happened to Moonbin. I’d assume that’s the reason Cha Eunwoo is taking his own fans?”
“But ASTRO didn’t disband. How come he’s collecting his own fans?”
“This f*cking baffles me. It makes me so upset.”
“FANTAGIO should have announced recruitments for all members. And it shouldn’t have been shared outside the member’s individual social media account. We can’t stop members from going individual and doing solo promotions. But we’d appreciate a smoother process.”
“I get it, but using the group’s fandom name for his own fan club isn’t a good look. The group account having re-tweeted it also doesn’t make sense.”
“Just let him leave the group. What’s wrong with managements as of late?”
“Fine, I can overlook the recruitment itself. But sharing it to the group’s official account…?”
“Can’t even show us the least bit of consideration, huh?”
“I remember what happened when Cha Eunwoo launched his own individual YouTube channel, too. Don’t pretend this hasn’t happened before.”
“Yeah, whatever. But don’t come recruiting the fans on ASTRO’s official Twitter.”

Others—including most of ASTRO and Cha Eunwoo’s international fans—are in favor of the new fan club, looking forward to signing up.

“Let him do what he wants. I’m sure he talked it over with his teammates and his management.”
“It’s not like he didn’t announce that he’ll be doing a lot of solo promotions. What’s the issue? Besides, Cha Eunwoo is popular enough on his own that he would have a lot of new fans wanting to be a part of his individual fan club.”
“Can’t we all be supportive instead? Come on, this is not a big deal. It’s a fan club. Stop nitpicking on celebs for things like this. Like, be for real.”
“I support him.”
“While he’s still a part of his team…? I don’t know. Recruiting his individual fan club sounds meh- to me. It would make sense after ASTRO disbands or after he announces leaving the group for solo activities.”
“But he did announce that he’ll pursue solo promotions. We had it coming. I’m going to support his decision.”

Following the intense responses online, FANTAGIO has told xportsnews that more details are to follow.