Hardship After 2NE1’s Disbandment
Park Bom took an indefinite hiatus from the entertainment industry after her drug scandal in 2014. Due to her drug scandal issues, other members of 2NE1 began exploring independent ventures, sending the group effectively into hiatus. After a year of hiatus, YGE announced the disbandment of the group. CL and Dara remained signed as solo artists, while Bom parted ways with the agency. The last single, “Goodbye,” was released in January 2017 as a farewell to their fans, inspired by a letter CL initially wrote to Minzy.
After the hiatus, Park Bom came back with her new song and also signed an exclusive contract with the newly established entertainment company D-Nation Entertainment. She also competed in Mnet’s reality television show titled Queendom.
Park Bom’s Controversy
On June 30th, Park Bom had been caught allegedly attempting to smuggle drugs into Korea. According to prosecutors, Park Bom attempted to bring approximately 80 pills of amphetamines into Korea from the United States via an international post on October 12th of 2010, and the singer was found out while passing through customs at Incheon International Airport. However, according to the report, her case was suspended, as amphetamines can be given as a prescription in the United States, and there was an instance of Park Bom being prescribed the drug while in the U.S. The drug was prescribed to treat her ADHD. However, the drug is illegal in South Korea, creating a major controversy that many thought it was impossible for her to recover from.
YG Entertainment’s CEO Yang Hyun Suk has since released a personal statement in Bom’s defense explaining the reasoning behind the drug importation scandal.
Yang Hyun Suk stated,
As fans may already know, 2NE1’s Park Bom grew up in the United States before her debut and had dreams of becoming a soccer player. During one soccer match, she witnessed the death of a teammate on the field, after which she fell in a slump, with the extreme trauma and the depression that followed. For several years afterward, she received counseling and treatment, taking medication prescribed to her by a university hospital in the States.
After that incident, Park Bom was unable to continue soccer, and that was when she first came to Korea to audition for YG. I remember that day vividly. The reason I remember her from among the many auditions is that she said, ‘If it’s not with YG I won’t become a singer.’
She didn’t make the first audition, and she came back the next year, where she was eliminated again. After three years of public auditions, she finally finished in first place, and because of that, I have a special memory of her.
The reason why I’m telling you all of this is because the first time I saw Park Bom was 11 years ago. However, it was only four years ago, after speaking with her father, that I found out of her old dreams of becoming a soccer player or of her traumatic experience as a child. As much as this is something even her fellow 2NE1 members did not know, that’s how much I didn’t want to put Park Bom through the recollection of those memories again.
While it’s become a situation where I have no choice but to reveal this, Park Bom had, until four years ago, continuously taken medication prescribed to her by an American university hospital. Due to a busy schedule, she was unable to return to the States for some time, and in the process of having her mother and grandmother receive the medications through post for her, it was stopped at customs, as amphetamines are banned in Korea.
Thankfully, the hospital provided medical records and prescriptions for the investigation, and the case was wrapped up with no further issues.
2NE1 is busy with their world tour schedule right now, and I hadn’t seen Park Bom in a while. But last night, I saw Park Bom crying all night, because of the reports that were released, and was conflicted on whether to talk about something from her past that Park Bom wouldn’t want to bring up.
I sincerely apologize for the concern that this has caused.
We will be back soon with more positive news. Thank you.
07.01.2014
Sincerely, Yang Hyun Suk
The reason why Yang Hyun Suk released a personal statement rather than an official one from YGE is that it is something that only he was told by Park Bom’s parents four years ago at the time of the incident and that it was something unknown to everyone at YG Entertainment, including the other 2NE1 members.
After the incident, Park Bom confirmed she has not done drugs or smuggled them into Korea. Instead, she talked about her condition that requires her to be medicated. She said, “I would not be this upset if I have ever in my life done drugs. I have never done drugs. I was investigated and found not guilty.”
Park Bom’s Filmography
Films
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2009 | Girlfriends | Club Party Guest | Cameo |
Television
| Year | Title | Role |
| 2014 | Roommate | Main cast member (Ep. 13) |
| 2019 | Queendom | Contestant |
Discography
Single Albums
| Title | Details |
| Spring |
|
As Lead Artist
| Year | Title | Album |
| 2009 | You and I | To Anyone |
| 2011 | Don’t Cry | 2NE1 |
| 2019 | Spring (봄) (featuring Sandara Park) | Spring |
| 2019 | 4:44 (featuring Wheein) | re:Blue Rose |
As Featured Artist
| Year | Title | Album |
| 2006 | We Belong Together (Big Bang featuring Park Bom) | Big Bang |
| 2006 | Anystar (Lee Hyori featuring Lee joon-gi and Park Bom) | Non-album single |
| 2006 | Forever with U (Big Bang featuring Park Bom) | Big Bang 03 |
| 2007 | Along My Way (Red Roc featuring Park Bom) | Non-album single |
| 2007 | Baby Boy (Lexy featuring Park Bom) | Rush |
| 2010 | Oh Yeah (GD & TOP featuring Park Bom) | GD & TOP |
| 2011 | Having an Affair (G-Dragon & Park Myeong-su ft. Park Bom) | Infinite Challenge |
| 2012 | Up (Epik High featuring Park Bom) | 99 |
| 2013 | Black (Japanese version) (G-Dragon ft. Park Bom) | Coup d’etat |
Soundtrack Appearances
| Year | Title | Album |
| 2019 | I Do I Do | Perfume OST, Part 8 |
| 2019 | Hann (Alone) (featuring Cheetah) | Queendom OST, Part 1 |
Other Charted Songs
| Year | Title | Album |
| 2019 | My Lover | Spring |
| 2019 | Shameful | Spring |
Music Videos
