Boy Band Leader Quits on Comments About Korea
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter
Jae-beom, the leader of popular boy band 2PM, quit the group and left Korea for the United States Tuesday, days after he was embroiled in a controversy regarding negative comments about Korea he made four years ago.
Jae-beom made the announcement by posting a message to his fans on the official 2PM fan Web site, Tuesday.
“I'm sorry to give you this last greeting through this letter. I think it will be hard for me to go on stage and see you because of my remorseful heart. I’m very sorry to everyone, and even sorrier to fans who have given me their love. Starting today, I will be leaving 2PM,” he said.
Just hours after the posting of the message, he got onboard a Korean Air plane in the evening. Hundreds of his fans packed the terminal at the airport yelling: ``Don’t Go, Don’t Go!’’ Jae-beom reportedly gave a big bow as a goodbye to his fans, most of whom were in tears.
Before leaving, the Korean-American singer also apologized to his fellow 2PM members for leaving the group this way. ``I’m sorry I couldn’t be a strong leader and older brother, and for having to leave like this. … Once again, I’m sorry.’’
A representative from 2PM’s management agency JYP Entertainment confirmed that Jae-beom had left the boy band. Jae-beom will be going back to the United States, but there is no word on his future plans.
The group was supposed to release a full-length album this October, but plans have been put on hold. “As for 2PM, there are no plans of getting a replacement for Jae-beom. 2PM will stop all its activities as of now,”’ the JYP Entertainment representative said.
Jae-beom was the center of netizens’ outrage over comments about Korea that he made to a friend on the social networking site MySpace around 2005-2007. Jae-beom, who was then a trainee at JYP Entertainment, wrote: “Korea is gay. I hate Koreans. I wanna come back.”
When the comments belatedly surfaced last week, Korean fans quickly lashed out at the young singer, saying they were disappointed in his comments and felt betrayed. Jae-beom had already issued an apology over the weekend, saying he first came to Korea as a high school freshman and did not know much about the country or the language. “The comments that I made were emotional expressions of discontent over my situation at that time … I sincerely apologize,” he said, Saturday.
After Jae-beom’s announcement, fans expressed their opinions on 2PM fan Web sites, Korean entertainment news blogs and networking sites like Twitter. Fans’ reactions ranged from being “sad and heartbroken” about Jae-beom’s departure, to anger directed at JYP Entertainment head Park Jin-young.
The final episode of 2PM’s show “Wild Bunny” was supposed to air on Mnet channel, Tuesday. Due to the controversy, Mnet has decided to indefinitely postpone its airing.
Jae-beom debuted with the seven-member group 2PM in 2008. Since then, 2PM has become one of the hottest groups in the country.
cathy@koreatimes.co.kr
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