TVXQ's Xiah Junsu (Kim Junsu), YoungWoong Jaejoong (Kim Jaejoong), and Micky Yoochun (Park Yoochun), who filed for a Exclusive Contract Validity Suspension and Provisional Disposition Request against SM Entertainment on July 31st, have finally released their official statement.
The three revealed today that, "For the past five years, the agency has been controlling everything and because of everything we have gone through, we are so worn out mentally and physically."
#1. For the past five years, the agency has been controlling everything and because of everything we have gone through, we are so worn out mentally and physically.
Kim Junsu, Kim Jaejoon, and Park Yoochun debuted in group TVXQ in the early months of 2004 and have been, with the order of SM, traveling back and forth from Korea, Japan and China. They have been completing their schedules by sleeping only 3~4 hours every night every single day except for one week of the year. Because of this, the three members' health has been affected greatly and the amount of stress and mental weariness they received was huge. However, the more SM got TVXQ involved in foreign activities, the more tiring and almost impossible the activities became. The three members finally began to feel like they were no longer SM artistes who were striving to reach their dreams, but mere tools for the agency to get money.But the three still wish to continue with their activities as a singer according to their own visions.
#2 The exclusive contract that was set for 13 years is in fact a 'slave contract'
When they talk of the exclusive contract, they refer to their contract that lasts 13 years. However, when they add the years they will serve in the military, the period will extend to at least 15 years which would mean that they would have to be celebrities under SM's rule for at least ten more years before they could even consider retiring. If they were to cancel their contract before the 13 years were over, they would have to pay a fine that was thrice the amount of all the investments made and twice the amount of how much they earned. As this amount would add up to tens of millions of dollars if they were to cancel their contract, they had no other choice but to stay at SM under the same conditions they are suffering because of right now.
#3 The members did not receive as much as they should have for their hard work
Just because they were tied to such a contract, doesn't mean they received fair treatment from SM for their hard work. They received no money for the contract, and when the division of income is seen for their albums, their contract states that each member can receive 1000,000 won only if they sell more than 500,000 copies of their album. If they do not reach 500,000 copies, they do not receive a single won from the income earned from the album This clause was altered on 2009.2.6 but even after the alteration, the members only receive around 0.4~1% each from the album sales.
#4 The members have tried numerous times to fix the contract, but SM did not listen to their pleas.
Therefore, the three members repeatedly asked for a suspension of their exclusive contract so they could follow their own visions of being a singer, but SM tried to move the spotlight towards the three's cosmetic company, which has nothing to do with this trial. So the three people believed that the least they could do was have the two sides talk and reach a compromise that both sides would agree on and even offered to find a proper place to do so, but not only did SM ignore this, their past and current attitude made it almost impossible for there to be any talks with SM. There was no hope for any talks to happen with the agency and that is why the three members decided to file this lawsuit.
#5 The investment in the cosmetic company was something they did outside of their activities as a celebrity, it has nothing to do with this lawsuit. The focus point is the unlawfulness of the exclusive contract.
SM revealed in their official statement that the three members were filing this lawsuit because of problems that arose because of the cosmetic company. However, the members' investment in the cosmetic company has nothing to do with this lawsuit. The company SM is referring to is the Chinese branch of the company that the three members invested in, and this was purely a personal investment that had nothing to do with their activities as celebrities. No one can say that TVXQ should lose everything they have worked so hard for until now just because of an investment of $1 million in a cosmetic company that is opening in China; that is ridiculous to even consider. The core of what the members see as a problem is the unlawfulness of the exclusive contract. SM must stop trying to move the spotlight to the cosmetic company that has nothing to do with the case.
#6 None of the members want to disband, all they want is to escape from the tirades of their contract.
They realized that many fans feared that a disbandment would arise from this lawsuit. However, this lawsuit should never be linked to the possible disbandment of the group. Only the three members are involved in this process because of a difference in opinion of a method of approach between the members, but there are no strains whatsoever between the members and they all wish to keep their promise to their fans and stay together. If they had even a small chance to fix the unlawful clauses in their contract and pursue their music careers in the way they wanted, they were willing to go through with this process with only the firm belief that all five of them would be able to stand on one stage together in front of their fans even after this ordeal.
#7 They take this as a step to become more mature
The three members are extremely sorry for frightening the fans who care so much about TVXQ with this lawsuit, but they believe this is a step towards a bigger dream. They promise that they will be able to come out of this situation as better people and a better group if they receive support from their fans.
Source: [osen + DNBN]
Translation credits: jeeelim5@iscreamshinki.net
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