THIS rising 5th-gen idol was humiliated for his skin color. After receiving harsh comments for having tan skin, his fans were quick to defend him.

On January 22, Pledis Entertainment's new boy group TWS officially debuted with their first mini-album, "Sparkling Blue."

Prior to their debut, the sextet originally earned attention as SEVENTEEN's junior, and they didn't disappoint as they showcased top-tier skills and charisma on stage.

Among them, two members particularly stood out for their striking visuals, amd they were none other than Dohoon and Hanjin.

ALSO READ: TWS Members' Visuals Revealed— Here's Why They Are Drawing Mixed Reactions

While the latter continues to enjoy rising fame as they promote their album, Dohoon unfortunately gets ridiculed due to his darker skin tone than the members.

TWS Dohoon Gets Absurd Hate for His Skin Color

On February 4, a netizen wrote an article in the Nate Pann forum, asking, "Why is TWS Dohoon's skin this dark?"

Along with a photo, the OP wrote the caption:

"I guess skin color is really important. Once I realized he has dark skin, I can't tell if he's handsome anymore..."

In the screenshots attached, Dohoon is seen posing with other members for a photo. There, it's recognizable that he's slightly tan compared to the other members.

As of the writing, the post has almost 90k views with a higher volume of agreeing users than those opposing it.

In the comments section, the 19-year-old idol was humiliated by Koreans for "not looking Korean enough" due to his darker skin color, and made fun of him for not looking like a Southeast Asian.

• "He's not from our country, right?"
• "He looks like someone who'd sell mangoes well in the Philippines."
• "I thought he was a Southeast Asian."
• "But why do the members look the same? They don't have any traits unique to each other."

Fans Defend TWS Dohoon from Xenophobic Comments, Remarks on His Skin Color

As the article became a hot topic among fans, supporters of TWS Dohoon took to the comments to defend the idol, and criticized the Koreans for spreading hate against him.

• "This is so low. Why should you criticize him just by his skin color? This shows how uneducated you are."
• "It's just so low to start an argument about someone's skin color."
• "So uncivilized of you to say this."

Regardless of what his skin color is, fans filled the section with praises.

• "He's indeed super handsome. It's been a while since I've found and saved an idol photo."
• "Stop criticizing Dohoon. He's tan skin is so sexy. Even if his color is purple, he will still look handsome with his face like that."
• "He's handsome, tall, has good proportion and skills that there is nothing about to criticize him."

Lastly, fans emphasized that, in fact, Dohoon has a normal skin tone, not tan skin but it only looked like that due to the poor lighting when the photo attached to the post was taken.

• "Is his skin color the problem? Even if I turn up the brightness of the photo, it seems off."
• "I think he doesn't have fair or tan skin, but it was like that because of the lighting. But what's the problem? He still looks good."

READ MORE: TWS Shinyu & Dohoon Spark a Visual Revolution — Are They the Ultimate 5th Gen Male Idols?

For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz.

KpopStarz owns this article.

Written by Eunice Dawson.