In an interview on the 17th, the trio’s legal spokesman and lawyer Lim Sang Hyuk revealed that, “Avex requested changes in the contract that the members found difficult to agree to in clauses regarding topics such as income distribution.”
Lawyer Lim Sang Hyuk also added, “At first, it was agreed that all activities performed by the three members would be scheduled and discussed by both sides, but Avex began asking for this to be changed so that Avex would have sole control of scheduling; Avex also requested additional changes that the trio felt were logically unacceptable”
Regarding Avex pinpointing the history of the head of C-JeS as the main reason for halting activities, Lawyer Lim explained that, “Mr. Baek, the head of C-JeS, willingly volunteered for his company to be excluded from the contract if his criminal record would become a problem, but Avex ignored such a notice,” and “Later, they deemed that it would be difficult to progress normally with Mr. Baek’s background.”
The TVXQ trio’s official statement said that, “Several months ago, Avex requested that C-JeS be excluded from the contract for such reasons, and the TVXQ trio agreed to such a request and actively participated in the discussions regarding the renewal of their contract with Avex in order to ensure that they would have smooth activities within Japan.”
Lawyer Lim stated, “When viewing the chain of events, there were many situations that could only be seen as Avex insisting that things go their way and their way only. If the opposition decides to retaliate, we will release additional information from our side.”
He also added that, “The essence of the current controversy is that an agency offered unfair conditions, contrary to what had been included in the previous contract, to their artistes. When these artistes refused to comply, the agency halted all activities, disregarding the members’ wishes,” and “It is disheartening to see that Avex is using the head of C-JeS, who is not affiliated with any gangs whatsoever, as a scapegoat to distract the media and public from the real problem.”
Lawyer Lim criticized that, “It is immoral to back the TVXQ trio, some of Korea’s most representative Hallyu stars, into a corner just because they cannot fulfill a company’s greed,” and strongly stressed that, “We will work hard to resolve this situation and allow the TVXQ trio to resume their activities in Japan.”
