Seoul — Kim Ki Bum has finally revealed why he left the Korean boy group Super Junior.
Ki Bum, 33, and another former member of the group, Kim Hee Chul, 37, had a candid conversation in a recent YouTube segment.
Ki Bum shared with Hee Chul the real reason for his departure from the group, as reported by Allkpop on Monday (Jan 25). Hee Chul was curious about the reason and asked Ki Bum if the members had harassed him or if he was bullied.
But, the real reason had to do with his singing. Ki Bum said: “I wanted to die. It was so embarrassing. I even asked if they could remove all my parts from the songs. And so, later, I really didn’t receive any parts.”
“I raised my own hands and said, ‘I will depart from the group’. I just wanted to focus on acting. There are both good and bad memories,” said Ki Bum.
Ki Bum debuted as part of 12-member rotational project group Super Junior 05 on Nov 6, 2005 on the SBS music programme Popular Songs, performing their first single, TWINS (Knock Out).
Their debut album SuperJunior05 (Twins) was released a month later on Dec 5, 2005 and debuted at No 3 on the monthly MIAK K-pop album charts.
Hee Chul shared during the conversation that he and Ki Bum were supposed to leave the group together after 2005. However, the group promotions had gone so well that year that they had to continue even in 2006.
After the release of Super Junior’s third studio album Sorry, Sorry in 2009, Ki Bum announced his leave from the group to pursue an acting career.
Earlier, in 2004, Ki Bum had made his television debut in the Korean television drama, April Kiss.
In 2006, he took on the lead role in the MBC daily sitcom, Rainbow Romance, sharing the lead with Hee Chul for 243 episodes. This was followed the same year by a second drama, Snow Flower, with Go Ara on SBS.
Since 2010, Ki Bum has starred in films and more television dramas. At the end of 2018, he was confirmed in Two Feet Life, a new SBS Plus variety show. /TISG