"I'm not afraid to be hated on" Jay Park receives support and empathy from K-netizens after talking about his departure from 2PM

06 Mar 2026, 19:56 by K-Soul · allkpop

Singer Jay Park shared his feelings about leaving the group 2PM.

On March 5, the YouTube channel Eyes Magazine uploaded a video titled “The Song That Changed Jay Park’s Life #LyricsPsychology.” In the video, Jay Park appeared as a guest to talk about his journey from his idol days to his solo debut and his current role as an entertainment CEO and producer.

In the video, he addressed leaving 2PM during the group’s peak activity. He said, “I just felt sorry and apologetic,” adding, “I caused a lot of trouble and inconvenience for a lot of people. But anxiety, I really didn’t have that.” Regarding pausing his activities immediately after leaving the team, he stated, “I just go with the flow. I accept it, and in whatever situation I’m given, I’m the type to do my best. So I wasn’t anxious or anything.”

After leaving 2PM, Jay Park returned to the U.S. and restarted his career by uploading cover videos on YouTube. He explained, “Back then YouTube was really taking off. I was an OG YouTuber, anyway. YouTube was booming. So, Asian Americans uploading cover videos was a thing. Back then. So I wanted to share my musical taste more, so I filmed this in the bathroom with the MacBook I got as a gift, and uploaded it, and that video blew up, like 3 million views in a day. It exploded. ”

Jay Park also shared his personal values. He said, “I’m not the type to be terrified of getting hate, so I think I’m just the type to do things freely. Of course, I’m not rude about it. I don’t do things that hurt people.” He added, "I’m not a rude person. But people’s prejudices, their standards, their rules not laws, but what they think are rules, like 'Singers should be like this, celebrities should be like that,' I don’t think I followed that. Other people’s opinions don’t matter that much to me.”

He continued to elaborate on his values and said, “ These days, people focus a lot on appearances and try to adjust their inner selves accordingly. But I’m definitely not saying I’m perfect. I still have a lot to work on, I still make a lot of mistakes, but I still think your inner self is way more important. No matter how much people like you, if your inside isn’t sorted out, it doesn’t mean anything. That’s how you prevent things from going wrong later.”

Jay Park debuted as the leader of 2PM in 2008 but left the group after just one year. He returned to the U.S. and resumed his solo career in 2010. Since then, he has expanded his activities as CEO and producer by founding labels such as AOMG, H1GHR MUSIC, and More Vision.

Korean netizens and fans were impressed by Jay Park's journey and the inner values that allowed him to persevere through difficult times. They shared empathy and praised his resilience.

They commented:

"He's really mature."

"I remember a lot of 2PM fans in my school were crying over his departure."

"I think Jay Park is amazing. I'm glad he has a strong mentality. I was so happy to see him make a comeback."

"So, people were saying how he was hating on Korea, but if you think about it, the things he wrote were when he was young. He was in a foreign country without his family, so he was just venting about how hard it was."

"I think he's really amazing. Imagine how hurtful that scandal would've been for someone his age at the time. It's really impressive how he consistently made music and established his own companies. I don't think he was ever rude, and I don't think being a celebrity ever got to his head."

"This happened so long ago, and these days there are so many shocking idol scandals like sexual assault or whatnot. So looking back, Jay Park left the group for such a ridiculous reason. lol."

"People only shared the mistranslated version of his hate on Korea, but there were also posts where he said he wants to live as a fellow Korean, not just as a trainee."

"Seeing Jay Park being successful makes me really believe in Karma."

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