11 November 2009

TVXQ is one step closer to breaking up? 09 Nov 2009

The three members of TVXQ who have taken legal action against SM Entertainment are planning to work by themselves, according to their legal counsel.


When Sports Seoul asked the three members' legal counsel about SME demanding the three members to make a decision by the 12th, they were told:

"The three members are taking a break at the moment and are planning new projects. We do not plan on responding to SME's press conference. SME was ordered by the court to submit relevant evidences and they have been ignoring this order for almost 3 months now and they also have not been following any other court orders. Conversations with SME will start when they start respecting the court's decision. The court said that the three members may work on their own, so we do not need SME's permission on that. We are also seriously considering making criminal accusations against SME."


The three members are now planning their own projects separate from that of the five-member TVXQ and in no way related to SME. They also do not intend on responding to SME's demand for an answer by the 12th.

09 November 2009

Who spent the night with TVXQ’s Jaejoong?





















Apparently Taegoon spent a night down in Pusan with TVXQ's Jaejoong. The two have been friends since they were students as they are of the same age and come from the same town.

Jaejoong and Taegoon were spotted eating sashimi and hanging out from the 7th until the 8th in Pusan, a major city and also the largest port of the country located on the southern coast of Korea.

Taegoon has been busy promoting his music and Jaejoong has a movie that is about to open (Heaven's Postman), so we could say that they deserve a little break. Especially Jaejoong, with all the drama surrounding the members of TVXQ.

Unfair Contract Dispute, SM has Changed its Stand? Sunday November 8, 2009 Korea


SM Entertainment CEO’s Kim Young Min, who is involved in the ‘unfair contract’ dispute with his artistes, has recently announced a new contract policy, and that it will be put into action once it gets approved by the related authorities.

SM Entertainment Representative, Kim Young Min, who attended the press conference which was held on the 2nd of November 2009 at 63 Tower, has expressed, “We would collect all comments from music and entertainment industries, related government departments, cultural and tourism board, fair trade departments, educational circles and legislative bodies, based on the law to adjudicate a new contract policy. After the approval from the respective authorities, we would then put it into action. Then follow it (new contract policy) enthusiastically.”

Kim agreed, “If we are able to come out with a new exclusive contract policy based on the law, SM would like to re-contract with all current artistes based on it.”

Kim also expressed, “Under the new exclusive contract, the moment it’s signed it would be protected till the contract ended, if not the current situation would repeat over and over again in the future.”

“In order to prove that what have just I said is nothing but the truth, we would first like to take the advice from the impartial committee,” he said.

But, everyone was not able to fully believe this announcement by SM Entertainment. Professor Lee from Korea Art University stated, “If SM do not wish to have what they have just said to turned into nothing, then they should assure them.” He continued, “Based on what SM have said, they do not wish to fully take on the advice from the impartial committee, but to forcefully come out with a new contract policy, which was questionable (their announcement).” Professor Lee ended, “If SM was really sincere about this, they should work on the new contract based on the advice and not vice versa, and then to get it approved by the representative authorities.”

05 November 2009

Law suit may lead to TVXQ split ; TVXQ: slave contract or ingratitude? Wednesday November 04, 2009 Korea


The possibility of Korea's top idol group TVXQ disbanding is increasing, after their agency sent an apparent ultimatum to three of the five-member boy band to return to the agency.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, SM Entertainment chief Kim Young-min accused the three members -- Xiah, Hero, and Micky -- of having sued against the company out of greed to make more money.

Kim was speaking about the ongoing legal battle between the three members and the company. The three band members claim the contract signed between TVXQ and the management agency is unfair.

Last month, a lower court sided with the three and ruled that parts of the contract should be invalidated, paving the way for them to resume individual music and advertisement careers.

The agency vowed to bring the case to a higher court, saying the three must follow the contract as long as they continue to be part of TVXQ, and should get paid according to the current contract.

The other two members -- U-know and Max -- rendered their support for the management agency's claim, expressing hope that the other three would return quickly.

In their statement, the two stressed that all members have worked under the same contract with SM Entertainment for the past five years.

"We believe that TVXQ would not have been in existence without SM Entertainment, which created the group. We are also not willing to resume our career as TVXQ without our current agency," the statement said.

In a related movement, SM Entertainment chief Kim made it clear that although the court granted freedom to the three members to pursue individual activities, they are allowed to work as TVXQ only under SM.

The company demanded that the three members reply to its request to return to the agency by Nov. 12.

But it is widely viewed that the three are unlikely to continue to work with the management agency due to deep distrust between the two sides.

CreaBeau speaks out on TVXQ Issue Tuesday November 3, 2009 Korea


When the TVXQ / DBSK / Tohoshinki controversy first began, the three members and their lawyers clearly stated that the three members’ investments in the CreBeau cosmetics line did not have any relevance to the court case. The core of the controversy was the legal issues of the slave contract. In SM Entertainment's opening statement, they stated that the lawsuit was because of the cosmetics issue.

To clear up the confusion, Kang Suk Won, the President of the Korean branch of CreBeau (Wishop Plus) was interviewed. Kang has already sued SME’s CEO Kim Young Min for slander to the Seoul Central Court on October 4th, 2009.

Kang said, “Although this case is obviously to fight the unfair profit splits and the conflict between the members and SME, SME is trying to push the blame onto CreBeau.”

Kang went on to reveal that the three members have only invested approximately 70,000 dollars, 60,000 dollars, and 40,000 dollars respectively. This amount, he said, was not enough to earn the three members rights to ownership of the business, let alone a big part of the profit.

Kang said, “In May 2009, some SME representatives visited the original branch of CreBeau Cosmetics in China twice. They determined that the members were not going against contract terms in any way, and now SME is distorting the true reason behind the case and putting out ridiculous claims... SME said that the whole lawsuit was due to the members’ wanting to continue a business that went against contract terms. This has no credibility in that SME has already approved of the investments previously. The members wouldn’t risk all the things that they gained as TVXQ by creating a conflict with their company over insignificant investments. It was a private investment, and the three have no ownership over the business in any way. They’re merely investors, nothing less, nothing more. What does this have to do with the lawsuit, and why is SME attempting to connect the two together?”

Kang went on to say that SME’s actions have brought about significant harm to the business not only in Korea, but all over Asia, including China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, and even the United States. For the employees and CEOs all over the world, CreBeau is their sole income. SME should have considered the impact its blames would bring to the business and the people involved in it.

“If SME’s company and its profits are so important that they are willing to harm others for it, then SME should recognize that it is the same for others.” Kang went on to say that “If SME does not stop distorting the truth and doesn’t apologize for the harms it brought upon CreBeau, I will not hesitate to reveal the details of SME’s absurd act to the public and to the court.”

TVXQ Fanclub Says, "Stop actions trying to divide TVXQ!" Tuesday November 3, 2009 Korea



TVXQ's fanclub Cassiopeia has expressed their official stand on SM Entertainment's press conference.

On the 2nd of November, they have stated their official standpoint through a fansite.

Cassiopeia expressed, "Everything, excluding the words directly from TVXQ, we do not believe, and we would like SM to stop trying to divide the fans by causing confusion/chaos." and "We are very disappointed, and saddened with SM by saying those statements were by Yunho and Changmin, and also with the press conference. The reason for this lawsuit is because of the 13-year slave contract, not because of the cosmetic business. With the court’s decision released on the 27th, SM is to not interfere with the three members’ own/individual activities, and would immediately like for SM to stop with their actions on trying to divide the TVXQ members."

At the same time, with the release of Yunho’s and Changmin’s statements, suspicions were roused among the fans. Many questions were raised, like the position of the signature and name, and the doubt that it may not be handwritten. Conflict between SM and the fans will seem to continue from this point on.

TVXQ’s Participation in the Concert at Shenzhen, Last Stop for the Tour Tuesday November 3, 2009 Korea


Confirmed: TVXQ will participate in the concert at Shenzhen

Before the ruling, all TVXQ members had signed as a confirmation that they will be participating in the Shenzhen Concert. This event will definitely not be affected by the conclusion of the lawsuit. Kim Jaejoong, Jung Yunho, Park Yoochun, Kim Junsu and Shim Changmin had all participated.

Regarding Kim Jaejoong’s, Park Yoochun’s, and Kim Junsu’s ability to choose their own activities, we have contacted the relevant person in-charge in SM Entertainment; the responsible person said that all five members of TVXQ have deep feelings towards Chinese Cassiopeia. The five of them could not bear to hurt their fans’ feelings. “Last 2nd of October, at the Shanghai Concert encore stage, the whole audience (Cassiopeia) was holding “Miduhyo” cloths to express their support, and this scene had touched everyone; TVXQ is not an exception. All five members will participate in the Shenzhen Encore Concert.”

Confirmed: Shenzhen Concert, last stop for the tour

Since the Shenzhen stop was decided by both sides before the verdict had been signed, the performance will not be affected, regardless of the outcome of the court’s decision. TVXQ will bring a full line-up scheduled appearance in Shenzhen to the Chinese fans, bringing the most exciting concert encore.

Regarding the rumours indicating that there would still be Chengdu, Guangzhou and Nanjing stops after Shenzhen, the company stated that “TVXQ’s concert in Shenzhen to be held on the 21st is definitely the 3rd Asia Tour final station. They will perform a complete line-up, and paint a successful closing for the 3rd Asia Tour.”

03 November 2009

NOTE: the FAKE news (apparently) TVXQ Jaejoong, Junsu and Yoochun’s Full Statements

The only reason I (Sweetz) decided to leave this 'fake news' is because it was circulated for a while and I think that fans of DBSK deserves to know what happened.

Please remember that Allkpop is NOT a very reliable source, so please read all those news with care. AF wishes to bring you all the latest in regards to the law suit, and will be updating frequently as more news are released. But if they are from allkpop, please read with care. We are not affiliated or associated with them, it is rare that we post these 'breaking news' from allkpop, but we think AF members deserves to know what is going on. And we trust AF-ers to read with a cautious mind.


We previously reported about Jaejoong, Junsu and Yoochun's reaction to SM Entertainment's press conference. The full interview and statements from the 3 TVXQ members have now been revealed. Both parties are now in a full on battle and have added yet another layer of complexity to this already complicated story.

Q: Yunho and Changmin are still with SME.

"That is very unfortunate. SME offers unacceptable conditions to their artists. It breaks our hearts to know that Yunho and Changmin are still there."

Q: You have partially won the trial. How do you feel about your victory?"

"We're more worried about how Yunho and Changmin would feel confused about the ruling. They must have thought that SME, a major entertainment company, would win."

Q: Yesterday, Yunho and Changmin showed their support for SME.

"They can't help but do such thing. They have to do something like that because they're with SME. We've done a lot of things we didn't want to do as well, because we were forced."

Q: How are you finding their decision?

"It'd be a lie if we didn't find it somewhat bitter. But we know that they have their own story, so we understand them."

Q: What do you plan on earning through this lawsuit?"

"All we want is to part from SME. The contracts were unfair, especially the length of 13 years. Division of profit was problematic as well. The three of us have yet to receive our share of income amounting up to couple hundred thousand dollars each."

Q: Some view the lawsuit as the end of DBSK?

"We do not want to cease working as or break apart from DBSK. We just want to end our relationship with SME."

Q: Are you in contact with Yunho or Changmin?

"We lost contact with them after we took legal actions. But we can assume why that would have happened.

Q: How do you plan on maintaining your relationship with those two members?

"If they have something that is holding them back from talking to us, then we will fight to change that. They will speak up when the time comes."

Q: So you are willing to stay together with two other members?

"When this whole thing is over, we will resolve our misunderstandings with the two. We will wait for that day."

Q: Any plans on working as three?

"We will not release an album or perform on stage until Yunho and Changmin comes back to us."

Q: Are you going to stay together until the end with the other members?

"We want to keep DBSK. The stage means something only when all five of us are on it. We are one. We will walk in the name of DBSK until the end."

DBSK JaeChunSu strongly denies "We never conducted an interview" Monday November 2nd 2009 Korea

It has been known that DBSK's three members Micky Yoochun, Xiah Junsu, and Youngwoong Jaejoong recently conducted an interview with Sports Seoul regarding the lawsuit against SM Entertainment.

But this has been proven to be false.

On November 3rd, during a call with No Cut News, the three members denied the direct interview saying, "We haven't conducted an interview with any media regarding the lawsuit."

They continued, "In the article, it is said that a person named Mr. A is the one who relayed the story. How can this be considered a direct interview?" and expressed their opinions.

Their close associate said "They have no plans to have any interviews for a while" and requested that they do not post articles using information from associates.

While SportsSeoul.com posted an article on the morning of November 3rd named '[Direct Interview] DBSK three members understand Yunho and Changmin's position... But we're still one.' The article ended with a one-on-one interview with Mr. A who is said to be with the DBSK three members.

TVXQ not allowed to continue group activities! Monday Noverber 1, 2009 Korea

SM Entertainment will have a press conference today regarding the conflict with TVXQ/DBSK/Tohoshinki.

Lawyers of SM Entertainment said:

"The court's ruling for TVXQ is not fair. They didn't consider the main reasons of the case. Their long contract is so that we can let them grow and have a long term deal with them. We want to look at their career in the long run and the court's decision is not letting us do that. This is going to affect TVXQ's international promotions. It'll also create confusion for stars that want to have long term contracts and move on to bigger things later in their careers and for the companies that want to nurture talented people for a longer time. Not only that, it'll have some unwanted consequences on exports of Korean music as well as other issues."


They continued to say:

"Each year, we adjusted the contracts in favor of the members. Before this problem, the three members never complained about anything. Now that they have succeeded this much, they are complaining. They have just started to reach the top and now want to separate. Before a final decision is made, the three can do their personal and individual work. But we will not allow them to do any activities as TVXQ right now. Because of all this, TVXQ has not been able to work and we want to request money that could've been made by TVXQ during this time."