2PM leader Park Jae-beom has officially left Park Jin Young’s JYP Entertainment, dashing the hopes of fans who have been clamoring for his return to the popular seven-member boy band. In a message posted on its Web site, JYP Entertainment said it had terminated its exclusive contract with Park. The Korean-American left the group in September after incurring the public’s wrath for critical comments he made about Korea on social networking site MySpace between 2005 and 2007.

JYPE revealed it had made plans for Park to rejoin 2PM, but they were scuttled after the young singer admitted last December that he had done something “that was more serious than the MySpace controversy.’” “To 2PM and everyone who waited for Park’s return, we deeply apologize. The company and the six remaining members of 2PM will work even harder to present an improved image,” JYPE said.

The company acknowledged that Park’s MySpace comments were written on his personal page while he was having a hard time during his days as a trainee at JYPE. At the time of the controversy, the company agreed with Park’s request for some time off for self-reflection, but did not plan to curb his activities in the entertainment industry or to remove him from 2PM. However, Park’s comments, which the agency said were exaggerated through mistranslations, had already enraged the public. So, Park decided to leave the group and return to the United States in September, a move that JYPE supported.