the departure of 2PM's Jaebum

i haven't heard a single song of 2PM (Korean boyband) yet but i know that their music is good - i mean, they are from JYP Entertainment (JYPE) (Wonder Girls) and they are one of the top Korena boybands along with DBSK, Super Junior, Big Bang, SS501 and SHINee. i'm planning to listen to their songs and watch their performances this coming weekend and all then the news came: 2PM's leader Park Jaebum (Jay Park) left the group and South Korea.

the whole quitting thing began just a week ago when netizens and anti-fans have dig onto Jaebum's Myspace and saw various comments in which he said that Koreans are gay. the said comments are exchanges between him and his friend from the US and they were posted in 2007. as a result, various haters have posted harsh comments about him on the net and a petition stating that Jaebum should just commit suicide surfaced. Jaebum was pulled off the variety show he's in and the activities of 2PM were cancelled. Jaebum even posted a public apology on the net. all things seem to be going nice until yesterday when JYP announced and confirmed that Jaebum has quit 2PM and that he will be going back to Seattles, US the same day.

even though i'm not yet a fan, i was deeply affected by the news. Jaebum became a trending topic in Twitter in the form of Jay, Jaebum, #jaebum, and Please Retweet. hundreds of 2PM fans, which are called Hottests, went to Incheon Airport to beg Jaebum not to go. various petitions were also circulated to make him stay. by the time that he was already at the airport, even Woohyung, his fellow 2PM member, become a trending topic in Twitter. on his last interview, Jaebum stated that he'll be studying music in the US. he didn't say anything about returning to South Korea and 2PM. moreover, all he constantly did was to bow down and apologize.

i realized that Korean fans and Korean detractors are really strong and dedicated. the fate of the Korean celebrities are in their hands. go against one Korean idol and hundred thousands are ready to go against you. however, this time, the detractors won against the fans, they were able to pull down a rising idol just like that. there are number of fans who are disappointed at JYP (the head of the JYPE) for letting all this happen, after all, Jaebum does deserve to be forgiven. fans posted various post-its on the entrance of JYPE after Jaebum's departure.

but my take on this is...Jaebum, though he is the leader of a boyband with seven members, is still a 22-year-old boy. going against such controversy at such a young age is really difficult and with his family living in the US, he can only do so much. the comments he made on his Myspace was also an expression on how much he has been missing his family, after all, he was just a teenage boy who is living in a country he is not yet familiar with even though it's his real roots. right now, he does need his family more than ever.

as of now, there are netizens, who caused this whole controversy, who are apologizing for what happened. there's also one who wanted to commit suicide (from an article i read at omgkpop). honestly? don't start something like this if you'll feel sorry afterwards. you should feel responsible of what you are doing, you should be aware of the consequences your actions might result to.

as for 2PM...let's just hope for the best. i may not yet know how's 2PM with Jaebum but i know that it will never be the same. that's always been the case...

[pictures from allkpop.com & omgkpop.com]