The group H1-KEY, consisting of four members under Grandline Group (GLG), debuted on January 5, 2022, with the song Athletic Girl and quickly attracted attention. However, right after the group’s debut, controversy arose as a member’s father contributed to Thailand’s military regime.
At that time, after the news of Sitala‘s debut was delivered, Thai people responded negatively through SNSs such as Twitter. This was because the idol’s father publicly supported the military regime while working as a film director in Thailand.
Her father was late Thai actor and filmmaker Sarunyu Wongkrachang, who had allegedly been a supporter of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee, which played a key role in the 2014 Thai political crisis, according to both The Korea Times and The Bangkok Post.
More seriously, Sitala wrote in her profile that her father is her role model. This has led many people to believe that she and her family support the military dictatorship.
Thailand has been under a military dictatorship ever since the military coup in 2014. In this country, anti-government protests demanding democracy are held periodically. Meanwhile, the military forcibly suppresses protesters demanding democracy to maintain the government’s power.
A Thai criticized, “The government has taken away the dreams and hopes of all people, especially teenagers. Many young people have been imprisoned, but Sitala was given such a good opportunity”. Another Thai also gave a negative response, saying, “Sitala’s family supported the dictators”. At that time, Thai people posted more than 1,000 comments on H1-KEY’s account.
However, Sitala received great support from Koreans.
Korean netizens on Instiz showed various reactions, saying, “Although it’s not related to our country but…”, “The company didn’t know about this, right?”, “I’m interested in other members because they look pretty and attractive.”
But things did not go well. Only 5 months after her debut, Sitala announced her departure from H1-KEY.
On May 25, 2022, H1-KEY’s agency – GLG said, “Sitala, who has been with us as a member of H1-KEY, decided to withdraw from the group due to personal reasons.”
