Hawaii Five-0's Daniel Dae Kim Speaks Out About "Difficult" Departure

Last week, news broke that Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park would not be returning to Hawaii Five-0 after CBS declined to give them raises to bring them to pay parity with co-stars Alex O'Loughlin and Scott Caan.

On Wednesday, Kim broke his silence with a Facebook post explaining his departure and thanking fans for their support.

"I will not be returning to Hawaii Five-0 when production starts next week," he wrote. "Though I made myself available to come back, CBS and I weren't able to agree to terms on a new contract, so I made the difficult choice not to continue."

"As sad as it feels to say goodbye, what I feel most is gratitude," he wrote. "I am so deeply thankful to our crew, writers and everyone associated with the show - and especially the cast, who have been nothing but supportive through this entire process. They and the crew have been my second family for seven years and I wish them nothing but success for season 8 - and beyond."

Kim also touched on how meaningful it's been to play Chin Ho Kelly. "As an Asian American actor, I know first-hand how difficult it is to find opportunities at all, let alone play a well developed, three dimensional character like Chin Ho," he wrote. "I will miss him sincerely."

[UPDATE] CBS released a statement to Deadlineon Kim's departure: "Daniel and Grace have been important and valued members of Hawaii Five-0 for seven seasons. We did not want to lose them and tried very hard to keep them with offers for large and significant salary increases. While we could not reach an agreement, we part ways with tremendous respect for their talents on screen, as well as their roles as ambassadors for the show off screen, and with hopes to work with them again in the near future."

Hawaii Five-0 left room in the Season 7 finale to write Chin and Park's character Kono off the show. Chin was offered a job on a task force in San Francisco and Kono went rogue and got on a plane to go investigate a child sex trafficking ring. Their absences will be addressed and explained in the Season 8 premiere.

Fortunately, Kim has something to fall back on -- he's an executive producer on The Good Doctor, which premieres this fall on ABC.

Add The Good Doctor to your Watchlist!

Hawaii Five-0 Season 8 premieres Friday, September 29 at 9/8c on CBS.

(Full disclosure: TVGuide.com is owned by CBS.)