August 3, 200915 yr Author DBSK Hero, Micky and Xiah’s official stand about their discord with SM Idol group Dong Bang Shin Ki’s members Micky YooChun, Hero JaeJoong and Xiah JunSu finally revealed their stand about their problems with SM Entertainment. Their representative revealed through news media on 3rd August, “The 5 years period after they debuted, the 3 of them felt that their minds and their bodies are tired having to follow the tight schedule that the company put up unilaterally.” They continued, “Kim JunSu, Kim JaeJoong and Park YooChun has been following SM’s instruments from beginning of 2004 till now, going back and forth promoting in Korea, Japan, China etc, and in a year except for 1 week they get only 3-4 hours of sleep a day to do our schedule.” Also, “In the process the health of the 3 members are very much deteriorated, they are also suffering from mental fatigue, and as time went SM continue to established on their own decision for Dong Bang Shin Ki to advance into other countries. In the end the 3 members felt that as compared to be fulfilling their dreams to be singers, they are used more as a tool by the compared to earn profits, and they wish to use each of the members to also go into other entertainers’ activities.” The 3 members’ representative also added, “It is a 13 years contract but in reality it is a lifetime contract. With the exclusive rights clause in the contract, the 13 years also include the time the members are serving their military service, hence it will go for more than 15 years. And now it has not even been near to 10 years since the group’s debut, hence it seems like the contract will last until the members’ retirement from the entertainment zone. The penalty for retracting the exclusive right clause is 3 times the investment cost and 2 times the lost in earnings. They also asked about the penalty of cancelling the whole contract but it will involve several hundred billions KRW of penalty, hence in reality there is no way out but to be tied down to SM because of the contract.” Also, “The members did not receive the right treatment even from SM. Without getting any contract fees, the initial contract was that if their album sells more than 500K copies, each member will get about 10 million KRW during the next album release. If they sell less than 500K copies of album, they will get nothing.” The 3 members had went down to Seoul Central District Court to file for a retractile of their exclusive belonging rights with SM Entertainment on 31st July, causing an outrage of speculations about the group’s disbanding and also problems between the members and SM. Source Translation of the Official Press Release: 1. 5 years after their debut, the three members are physically and emotionally fatigued from the company’s one-sided orders. -Kim Junsu, Kim Jaejoong, and Park Yoochun debuted as DBSK members in 2004. Since then, they have followed SM’s orders to go from Korea, Japan, to China. With the exception of 1 week for year, they were only able to get 3-4 hours of sleep and had to go through schedules. During this period, the health of the three members deteriorated and they were mentally fatigued. However, SM pushed DBSK into foreign markets which resulted in excess performance plans. In result, the three members felt that they would not be able to achieve their dreams in SM and would be just tools for the company’s profit. They wished to participate in entertainment activities according to their individual visions. 2.In reality, 13 years of contract meant a contract for life. -According to the contract, the period of the contract was 13 years, but when including military service, would exceed over 15 years. This meant that there was still 10 years to go with the current contract and in reality, meant until retirement. In the instance that the contract would be breached, the penalty would be to pay 3 times the total investment, 2 times the lost earnings. Even in the case that the contract is canceled when agreed by both parties, the members were required to pay penalty. Therefore, due to the millions of wons required by the contract upon cancellation, contract cancellation was realistically impossible and the members had no choice but to remain in SM 3. The members did not receive adequate treatment from SM for their efforts. -Despite all this, during the duration of their contract, they did not receive adequate treatment from SM. They did not receive any earnest money from the contract, and according to the initial contract for album profit allotment clause, only when an album sold 500,000 copies, could they get $10,000 per member for the next album, and when albums sold less than 500,000 copies, the members could not receive any earnings. This clause was revised in 2009, February 6th, but even after the revision, earnings that each member would receive for the album sales were 0.4%-1% depending on the album sales. 4. The members requested for corrections to the unreasonable contract, but SM did not listen to the member’s opinions. -In this situation, the three members pointed out the unreasonable parts in the contract and asked multiple times to be freed from the contract’s boundary and work according to their visions but in response to the current situation, SM discussed issues dealing with their investments in the makeup company, not responding to the true nature of the problem. Despite all this, the three members wanted to find a way to deal with the situation and requested for a conference where both parties could find a solution but SM did not respond. During this process, by the attitudes shown by SM, the three members realized that there was no point in hoping for a settlement and resorted to the court of justice to execute a solution for the problems. 5. The investment in makeup company does not have any relation to entertainment activities and does not have any relation to the applied provisional disposition. The nature of this incident is the contract. -SM stated that the disposition was submitted due to the investment but the members’ investments in the makeup company do not have anything to do with the provisional disposition. The makeup company SM discussed planned to export to China, and the three members invested as stockholders, having no relation with their entertainment activities. Just by common sense, it does not make sense that the members would give up all their efforts and results as DBSK in order to invest $100,000 to the company. The core of the problems presented by the members is contract injustice, and SM’s attempts to blur the true problems by bring up the investments must stop now. 6. The members do not want DBSK to break up and just hope to free themselves from contract restraints. -May fans are worried that the disposition would result in DBSK’s break up. However, this disposition was not intended for DBSK to end. Right now, due to differences in how the members wish to overcome problems, only 3 members have participated in the lawsuit. However, there is no problems within the members and they all have the same wishes to keep their promises with their fans to always remain as one. After this incident, if contract injustice is corrected and the members are given conditions to freely perform their music, they feel that everyone can be one and can stand in front of fans as one. 7. We will take this as an opportunity to mature. -The members realize how much DBSK fans must be surprised and be disappointed about this incident and are distressed and sorry. If the fans could think of this as a jump to bigger dreams and continue to cheer, the members promise to respond to the fans as better musicians.
August 4, 200915 yr Author The DBSK Situation, the Truth and Distortion (Interview with Acquaintance) The future of idol group DBSK is uncertain. DBSK’s 3 members (Micky YooChun, Xiah Junsu, Youngwoong Jaejoong) and SM’s trouble is too deep. Although they state that there will be no disbandment, in reality, disbandment is more than likely. Even if they avoid the worst case scenario, disbandment, it feels like their departure of SM is set. On the third, a acquaintance of the 3 members said, “settlement with SM has been tried multiple times. But their differences couldn’t be settled. The reason this went to court is because they couldn’t find a point to settle.” Thus, they concluded that more attempts for negotiations was useless. The acquaintance that the reporter met is someone who has watched over DBSK very closely. He has experienced all ups and downs since debut until now. According to him, DBSK advocated for only one thing. They wanted conditions of the contract to be eased. However, it has gotten to a point where the conversations between the two parties have gone nowhere. He stated, “they asked for the contract term and earnings distribution to be revised because everyone could tell it was irrational. They attempted to negotiate until the end but they felt that SM was avoiding them. Therefore, things got emotional for both parties and the 3 members are even more angry with SM’s response.” “The truth about the 3 things that SM distorted.” After the initial reports about this incident, SM sent documents on the 1st and the 3rd. On the first, they reported that this problem was due to the makeup company investment and they will work it out. After the contract conditions were reported, they responded that members were paid 11 billion Won and were given foreign cars as presents. In response to this, he stated, “the nature of this instance is the unfair contract, not the make up company. However, SM has not mentioned the contract conditions and have continued to use make up company issues to play with the media.” Additionally, he discussed about the 11 billion Won. He said, “let’s say SM is right and that they were paid 11 billion won for the 6 years of work. This is the pre-tax profit. After taxes were paid, and this amount is divided by 6 years, and 5 members, this is less than 200 million won per member. For the first half of this year, the profits from album sales in Japan is 2.5 billion Yen (33 billion won). However, DBSK doesn’t even receive 200 million won per year.” The total number of albums released in and outside of Korea is 48. Out of these, including singles and full albums, 1.96 million copies were sold in Korea. In Japan for 4 full albums and 27 singles, 8 of those sold over 100,000 copies, and one sold over 250,000 copies. Including south-east Asia, at least 4 million albums were sold. He also criticized abnormal methods of calculating methods. According to him, “SM requested money for back dancers and food. Basically, almost all of the expenses were paid for by DBSK.” He added, “besides this, SM created a local subsidiary and divided the earnings of DBSK into pieces. For example, SM Japan and Avex divided earnings, and this was also divided with Korean SM. With complex divisions, the money for the members were reduced. Also, he stated that the foreign cars were given to them under the company’s name. “They received cars from SM after an award ceremony. However, the cars were registered in SM’s name and is not owned by DBSK.” “The three members are as tired as they can get.” According to this acquaintance, the three members of DBSK are tired of SM’s play with the press. They have no intention to solve this with mere words, and are extremely upset that SM is exaggerating only one side of the story, distorting the truth. He said, “they expected SM to twist words with the press but didn’t realize it would be to this extent. If SM continues this method, I think it would be nearly impossible to work together with SM again. I suspect that they will part with SM and try to find a different solution to settle this. Their departure from SM does not bean the disbandment of DBSK. He asserts that there is no problems in relationships between all the members. They are still like family and agree that in any situations, they must work together. He said, “Truthfully, all five had the same intentions. But in the process of negotiations, there was differences between the members. That is why only 3 members decided to fight with their company. They all agree that the contract conditions are irrational, it is just that their way of handling it is different.” “DBSK will continue even after departure with SM” Micky YooChun, Xiah Junsu, Youngwoong Jaejoong’s will is stronger than ever. The acquittance reported that, “the 3 members are showing stronger wills than before debut. The three members are determined to stick together no matter what hardships come their way.” They are also determined to get back together as 5 members under the name DBSK. He revealed, “even if the 3 members leave SM through lawsuit, this only means departure from SM. This does NOT mean the disbandment of DBSK. It may be after the 2 remaining members leave, or if they perform from 2 different companies; the 5 want to continue with DBSK.” Well then, if 3 members leave SM, would they still be able to use the name ‘DBSK.’ Upon researching in the Industrial Property Office, the group name ‘DBSK’ is not registered. SM registered for DBSK trademark in 2004 but was denied. In other words, SM does NOT have the right to the name ‘DBSK.’ According to a ‘Mansung’ Patent Law Firm Office, the patent attorney Hwang Sung Pil said, “Dong Bang means East and one cannot assert exclusive right to use it. Most likely, this was probably the reason why the application was denied 2004. SM cannot assert any trademark rights to the name. If the 5 members are together even away from SM, they will have no problems using the name.” More than anything, DBSK feels extremely sorry to their fans. This is why they want to go through with performances that were already scheduled. The acquaintance reported, “if they lose the lawsuit, they may have to pay an extreme amount of money for penalty. More than that, they are going through hard times thinking that they will have to be away from their fans while the lawsuit is in process.” Source
August 5, 200915 yr Author Yunho continues to work hard for drama TVXQ's U-Know Yunho has been attracting attention by continuing on with filming for his drama even though the future of his group might be at stake. U-Know Yunho was cast for his acting debut on MBC's new Wednesday-Thursday drama 'Heading to the Ground' (Director Park Sungsoo, Writers Kim Solji, Kim Yehji) and began filming on the 28th last month. During the past week, TVXQ's members YoungWoong Jaejoong, Micky Yoochun and Xiah Junsu filed for a Exclusive Contract Validity Suspension and Provisional Disposition Request against SM Entertainment and the rift between the two sides have gotten deeper as time passes. However, this has not stopped U-Know Yunho from taking his lead role seriously and contunuing with the filming for the drama. One representative said on the 5th that, "U-Know Yunho is working extremely hard on set as he usually does even though he is surrounded by the chaos that is happening right now," and "We filmed on the 4th at Kyunggi-do Kimpo as well." They are busy filming throughout the night going back and forth from Seoul and its borders for the first few scenes. It was seen that U-Know Yunho has been trying very hard to be the best that he can be for his big role of his first drama. 'Heading to the Ground' is the success story of Cha Bong-goon, a man who has nothing but is driven by passion for playing soccer. U-Know Yunho, who has taken on the lead role, will be working alongside Ara, Lee Yoonji and Lee Sangyoon. On the other hand, YoungWoong Jaejoong, Micky Yoochun and Xiah Junsu have been stating that, "Our 13-year contract is basically a for-life contract," and "We. all five members, did not receive proper treatment from SM for our hard work." U-Know Yunho, along with Choikang Changmin, did not participate in this lawsuit. Source
August 6, 200915 yr Author As seen in today's airport pictures, Park Yoochun apparently has a new tattoo which says: taken from his cyworld:
August 18, 200915 yr Author "What's In?" Magazine /monthly_08_2009/post-25098-0-1446014161-85733_thumb.jpg" data-fileid="2597030" alt="post-25098-0-1446014161-85733_thumb.jpg" data-ratio="133.33">
August 20, 200915 yr Author All About DBSK 3 Video Spam!4th Album Mirotic ShowcasePart 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9DBSK in SaipanPart 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 DBSK Mini OlympicsPart 3 Part 4 Part 5
August 21, 200915 yr Author 3 Members Of TVXQ, "We Don't Want To Disband Even If We Move Agencies"TVXQ and SM Entertainment (SME), who are currently in a dispute over TVXQ's exclusive contract, have both stated that they do not wish for a disbandment of the group.The first hearing for the lawsuit TVXQ's YoungWoong Jaejoong, Micky Yoochun, and Xiah Junsu filed against SM began on the 21st at 10:20 am.At this hearing, SME's representative lawyer said, "We hope that through this trial, any misunderstandings that have arisen between SME and the three members will be taken care of so that the two sides can have a better relationship and mature as a star who will lead the 2nd Hallyu Wave and his companion," and "SME has unlimited affection for the three members, and SME has big visions for TVXQ, they've even considered introducing TVXQ into Hollywood so we hope this ends well."The three members' lawyer said, "If you look at Shinhwa, although each member is in a different agency, they still perform as one group and the three members, even if they move agencies, do not wish to disband."The three members of TVXQ filed for an Exclusive Contract Validity Suspension and Provisional Disposition Request against their agency SM Entertainment on July 31st. They also filed for a Preservation of Evidence Request to be able to calculate their exact income.The three members asked for a suspension of their contract due to unlawful clauses but SME stated that the three members were filing this lawsuit due to a conflict because of their cosmetic company; both sides refused to back down from their statements. Leader U-Know Yunho and youngest member Choikang Changmin did not participate in this lawsuit.But both sides agreed that they did not want a disbandment to occur. A lot of attention is being focused on this trial from the entertainment business and fans.On the 20th, 120,000 TVXQ fans submitted 12 volumes worth of petitions to the Seoul District Courts, where the lawsuit is being dealt with, stating their objection against SM Entertainment's unlawful contract.Source
August 21, 200915 yr Author YunJae, JaeChun, JaeSu, & JaeMin Couple Talks AADBSK3Part 2Part 2 Part 3Part 2Part 2 Part 3
August 23, 200915 yr Author YooMin, MinSu, HoMin, & HoSu Couple Talk AADBSK 3Part 2 Part 3Part 2Part 2
August 27, 200915 yr Author DBSK's GROUP ACTIVITY SUSPENDEDIT IS REPORTED THAT THE SOUTH KOREAN POP BAND DBSK WILL SUSPEND THEIR ACTIVITIES FOR THE TIME BEINGThe group DBSK will temporarily suspend their activities. This has been reported simultaneously by all the main entertainment media in South Korea.DBSK, whose members have filed a lawsuit against their management company, will complete all their planned schedules. However, all their schedules that have been planned before the lawsuit will come to an end on the 29th of this month, and they will have a period of time where their activities will come to a pause.For the time being, TVXQ's last activity will be their performance at the open-air concert a-nation in Osaka, Japan, and they will take a break after that. Also, besides their scheduled concert in Shanghai, China, which will be held the following month, there will be no other group activities.Also, with regards to the application for injunction to stop the exclusive contract (with their company) filed by some of the members, the ruling will be decided on the 11th of September. The ruling will have a large impact on their future activities as a group, which all the fans are concerned about.In the meantime, one of the members, Yunho, will be making his acting debut in MBC's drama "Heading to the Ground".Source
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