Park says 2PM will go as 6-member group

Park Jin-young, founder and CEO of 2PM's management agency JYP Entertainment (JYPE), has announced the boy band will resume its activities without its former leader Park Jae-beom as a six-member group.

Park made the remark on JYPE's official website on Thursday, about ten days after the idol group member left for the United States over controversial remarks he made before his debut.

"I have been listening closely to everything that has been said about Jae-beom, me and my company and about giving him another chance," Park started by saying. "But Jae-beom remains firm on the thought that he made a big mistake and cannot return to the stage because he is still ashamed."

"He hurried to leave the group because he did not want his other group members, who had also worked so hard, to go on a break because of himself," said Park.

He said he agreed with Jae-beom and that despite fans concerns that everything the singer worked for during the past four years would go to waste, Park said his talent will remain in his body and this incident may help him soar even higher in the future.

"I think it is my role to respect his opinion that he wants to spend some time alone away from the stage and if, in the future, he wants to go back on stage, to do my best to help him return," Park explained.

Park ended the statement by saying 2PM would start its scheduled activities with its remaining six members.

The rest of the group -- composed of Nichkhun, Taec-yeon, Woo-young, Jun-su, Chan-sung and Jun-ho -- had been cutting back on their individual appearances as hosts or participants of TV shows after the incident.

An alliance of some 60 fans clubs of the group have been calling on JYPE to withdraw its decision in allowing Jae-beom to leave the group through newspaper advertisements, holding silent protests and boycotting products related to the group.

Jae-beom, who had enraged fans with comments such as "I hate Korea" on his MySpace account between 2005 and 2007 while a trainee at JYPE, quit the group on September 8, four days after the comments became public.

2PM has been one of the most popular boy bands in town since their debut in 2008.

Jessica Kim jesskim@asiae.co.kr