JYJ to File Complaint to Korean Fair Trade Commission and Take Legal Action for KBS’s Cancellation

JYJ released an official statement today regarding KBS’s abrupt cancellation of the group’s appearance at the “New Seven Wonders” concert. Demanding an official apology from KBS, JYJ said they would file a complaint to the Korean Fair Trade Commission (FTC) and take legal procedures over the broadcaster’s decision to replace the trio with SNSD and f(x) on the show scheduled for July 20^th.

In a press release, JYJ’s management agency C-JeS Entertainment said:

“Last April, we received a call from the local government of Jeju Island requesting JYJ to become honorary ambassadors for Jeju’s ‘New Seven Wonders’ campaign. It was April 26^th when we received an official mail on this matter.”

“In most cases, honorary ambassadors start promoting from the day of the official appointing ceremony, as related press material get released on the same day as well. When we first received the request, JYJ were on a world tour and was unable to proceed with the ceremony—so we respectfully rejected the offer at the time. But the Jeju government said they were organizing a special TV show in July and that would be the official appointing ceremony. Since they were in need of publicity events as soon as possible, they asked us to first start promoting the event, and JYJ, as a Korean artist, felt responsible to promote Korea’s brand as well as Jeju’s seven wonders to the world—so we decided to take on the ambassador role.”

“On May 4^th, the Jeju government released an official press release about JYJ’s appointment as honorary ambassadors, and we started our activities. At the time, despite being on a world tour, JYJ continued to publicize Jeju Island during concerts, and filmed videos encouraging phone and online votes for Jeju’s selection. Also, last May, the Jeju local government sent an email to JYJ expressing their gratitude for promoting the campaign across the country.”

“The previously mentioned special TV show has been confirmed to be on July 20^th. JYJ was scheduled to perform two songs and receive the official appointment as honorary ambassadors. But on July 16^th, four days prior to the event, we suddenly received a one-sided message stating the cancellation of JYJ’s appearance. The unreasonable explanation was that ‘JYJ’s appearance could possibly cancel the whole TV show.’”

“Today, KBS’s Jeju branch said they made an apology to JYJ, but all we got so far is this one-sided notice with no official apology about the exact cause of the cancellation. We believe it is the absolute right of the broadcaster to choose the casts for its TV shows in any case. However, due to the fact that this TV show was a specially produced program for Jeju Island’s selection to the ‘Seven Wonders,’ and JYJ had already worked as the official ambassador for three months—we demand an official statement from the Jeju’s local government as well as KBS on this unilateral cancellation notice.”

“Also, C-JeS Entertainment will file a complaint to the Fair Trade Commission about the organizer’s act to unilaterally cancel JYJ’s appearance, without any prior agreement, just four days before the event. We will also take appropriate legal procedures over this fraudulent act where the artist (JYJ) was used as ambassadors under the agreement of appearing on the special TV show, only to get forcefully cancelled without prior notice.”

“The statement ended with, “JYJ’s current lawsuit is a civil suit against their previous management agency’s unfair contract. It’s just a struggle by a minority artist to fight against the impartiality of the life long contract; not a case regarding a socially or morally wrong incident. Also, just recently, the central court had made a decision that JYJ is allowed to freely promote as an artist.”

“More than anything, we deeply apologize to our fans who have been greatly shocked by this unreasonable incident, and regardless of what had happened, JYJ will continue to support Jeju Island’s Seven Wonders as citizens of South Korea.”

Source: My Daily