Jay Park Makes First Official Apology to JYP, 2PM

Jay Park (Jaebum) made his first official apology to Park Jin Young (JYP) and his former group 2PM today. Through a long letter posted on his official fan café, Jaebum expressed his sincere apologies and regrets to the fans, JYP, and the 2PM members for causing so much trouble and disappointments, which eventually resulted in his withdrawal from the popular idol group early last year. 

In 2009, Jaebum sparked a huge controversy in Korea for a leaked blog post he wrote during his trainee days that said, “Korea is Gay. I Hate Koreans. I wanna come back (to the States).” He moved to the US briefly until JYP dismissed him from 2PM due to unexplained reasons in 2010.

After today’s post, netizens seem split over Jaebum’s apology. Some said, “In the past he said he has nothing to be ashamed of and attacked JYP. And now he’s saying this?” while others said, “Jaebum is a real man. He’s so cool.” Did he do the right thing today by finally posting an official apology? Decide for yourself.

Here’s the full post:

“Hello, this is Park Jaebum.

Are you all doing well?

It’s getting warmer day by day and now it finally feels like the New Year has started. I’ve been so caught up with the production of my new album lately that I haven’t been able to really care about the weather, time, or even the date.

It feels like the New Years was just yesterday but we’re already heading to the end of February now. That means I’ll soon be able to meet you all again, and it made me think about a lot of different things.

Now I want to fully focus on everything with a new mind, and I also want to show a new Park Jaebum to my family, fans, and all the people who work with me.

I also realized that in order to really soar higher I needed to become stronger and more mature, and I would like to express my feelings about that today. In the past, when I was a 2PM member, I disappointed a lot of Koreans with my own misdeeds.

Plus, I still feel sorry and regretful for disappointing JYP Entertainment’s producer Park Jin Young, who’s helped me so much both physically and mentally. I made another mistake that has caused me to withdraw from 2PM and the 2PM members, who I lived with and been through so much together.  They suffered so much because of me and I can’t express how bad and sorry I feel for them.

In order to overcome my past misdeeds and faults, I’m working extremely hard with my new management agency, and I’m going to do my best for all my activities with a new mindset as well.

I’ll always work hard to show a grown side of me to all the fans and all the Korean citizens. I hope you support me and I will show up with a new album and a new image. Thank you.”