Day6's lead guitarist and vocalist Jae Park has revealed that taking a break from the K-Pop band wasn't his choice.
The Argentina-born singer, who is currently under JYP Entertainment, made his debut with Day6 in 2015.
Before joining Day6, his claim to fame in South Korea was as one of the final six contestants in the first season of the singing competition television series K-pop Star. Although he came 6th, he was noticed and offered a contract by JYP Entertainment.
In 2020 Jae Park ventured into a solo career under the name eaJ.
Day6's Jae Park reveals shocking information on Instagram Live
The Korean-American singer went live on his Instagram account on October 6, and opened up about several things, including his unexpected hiatus from the group. Jae Park made several references to the Da6 sub-unit, Even of Day, which features three out of the 5 original members of Day6: Young K, Wonpil and Dowoon.
During the broadcast, Jae Park claimed:
“I also want to make a couple things clear, like, for the work stuff, I was never the one who said I don’t want to perform. I was never the person who said I’m going to take a break. I’ve had that on my chest for a very long time."
Park also claimed that JYP Entertainment "never invited [him to join] Even of Day”. The sub unit had made their debut on August 6 of 2020, while the original band was on hiatus. Day6 returned with a mini-album earlier this year in July.
Jae Park, in this tell-all live, also added that he misses the days when the gang were all together.
“Nobody ever asked me like, ‘Yo, you wanna come?’ I expected people to hit me up. No one hit me up, so I was just here doing my own thing. And people are gonna come here and tell me I’m selfish? Come on, man.”
Jae Park, in the Instagram Live which has been saved on YouTube archives, went on to say that his solo career is all that he has now. He continued:
“I haven’t been given these opportunities… I did everything on my own, out of my own pocket. I called favours for everything.”
"I’ve always sent it to DAY6 first and it was at the point where I stopped getting invited to things. …I totally get it, I must have been a problem in the Korean scene which I’m also very, very interested in who started all those problems because the timing on some of that was impeccable."
Park, last year, had called out JYP Entertainment over Twitter for not promoting his solo work as much as those of the other members.
The singer ended the live with a message for his fans, stating that they “might not like the decisions to come”. Park also claimed:
“I want you guys to know that I’ve done everything that I could for [Day6].”
This is not the first time Park has been vocal about the alleged ill-treatment from the agency. In 2018, he had ended his Jaesix YouTube channel, and earlier this year, Jae Park also shut down his Twitch channel. Fans of Day6 (who call themselves MyDays) have long suspected that he was forced to shut down both.
In the days leading up to this Live, Jae Park had posted several suggestive tweets, implying an impending outburst. The singer also claimed that this outburst was a result of being forced to stay shut for over a decade.
Fans of Jae Park come out in support of singer
Fans of Day6 and Jae Park have come out in support of the singer. Touched by this vulnerable Live, fans want answers from JYP Entertainment. MyDays have claimed that there is no Day6 without Jae Park.
Only last month, Jae Park had spoken about plans to interact with fans more in 2022, when he's “more out of the K-pop realm”. Park had said he'll focus more on his solo career.
“But I’m telling you guys, [20]22 is about to be our year, for sure."
Watch the entire Live here: