Who is "Forever"? Part I: JYJ and Cosmetics Business

“Who is Forever?” is an incredibly insightful and informative article written by Moto of “Moto’s Planet” (http://blog.naver.com/xdrugx). It is an absolute must-read for all JYJ fans and anyone who wishes to know more about the fan war and the lawsuit. It is an extremely long article containing information about many topics; therefore I have decided to translate and post it in several parts. The following is the first section.

Q. Who is “Forever”?
A. The one who started this nasty fan war.

“Once upon a time in a village far away, lived five men. One day…” seems to be the right way to start the story. My goodness, do I have to repeat this old story again? However, one thing I have noticed from observing the whole TVXQ situation is the fact that the fans have extremely little knowledge, and this ignorance is the result of “negligence by the ones who know”, “avoidance by the ones who must know”, and “brainwashing done to those ones who don’t know”. Avoiding the truth may have seemed to be the better way until now, but, from now on, it will be, more or less, a crime. So let us be fans who “know”.

First, regarding the Cosmetics Business:

Everyone knows that Jaejoong, Junsu, and Yoochun started the cosmetics business as a sideline. The size of the business started out very small, comparable to sales done by a group of ajummas in the neighborhood. Anti-JYJ fans always argue that the percentage of the shares owned by the three members is over 60%. However, the total amount invested was no more than $100,000 (USD) altogether, and the percentage, regardless of how high it is, does not matter. After all, there is no law that limits the amount of investments of a celebrity.

Back when the three members started the business, some fans actually wished the other two would join as well. The three members invested their own money in a small but growing company. The way their business was run was that they were each given an executive position (lol) only due to the size of their investments, and their parents, or older sisters in Jaejoong’s case, opened small offices where fans visited to sometimes have conversations about the members with their family. Anti-JYJ fans often bring up the executive positions in their arguments, but the positions were obviously just names. I would assume the members’ involvement included not much more than receiving reports about their investments and revenues for fiscal quarters. They were definitely not involved enough for their business to become an interference to TVXQ’s activities. I just don’t see the point the anti-fans are trying to make. When Junsu’s family had decided to invest, they asked all five members and their family if they wanted to join. Yunho and Changmin’s parents, already busy with their own business and day job refused the suggestion, and Yoochun’s mother and Jaejoong’s sisters decided go on board.

I don’t know exactly what happened (I wasn’t very interested in cosmetics back then), but the business must have been going very well since SM told the members they wanted a piece of what they were making. This was revealed in a newspaper article after the lawsuit was filed. We don’t know all the details, but I am sure this caused a conflict. It is my assumption that Jaejoong, Junsu, and Yoochun could not understand why they had to give away their personal earnings to SM. An investment always comes with a risk. It is possible that their cosmetics business could have gone the other way. Could it have been SM’s intention to watch negligently in case of failure and take the profit in case of success when they gave their permission for the cosmetics business? By the way, the fact that the members had to get SM’s “permission” for their sideline business shows what a tyrant SM was. Anyway, the three members must have rejected SM’s plan, and from that moment on, SM tried their best to interfere. SM forced them to change the names of their business and pressured them by spreading rumors that they were using the name “TVXQ” to sell their products. Yunho and Changmin’s parents also partook in this by labeling a perfectly legitimate company as an illegal enterprise and falsely accusing Jaejoong, Junsu, and Yoochun of planning an investment fraud based on no evidence whatsoever. (T/N: This took place on November 2nd, 2009 during SM’s press conference.) (Yunho fans also carried out this task by spreading malicious rumors about the cosmetic products, ordered by “Forever” on June 23rd, 2009.) (T/N: The role of Yunho fans and the significance of “Forever” will also be explained in sections to come.)

I am sure everyone who was a fan during this time knows the truth. Did Jaejoong, Junsu, and Yoochun really “use” the name “TVXQ” for their personal gain? Not as much as Yunho and Changmin are doing so by using the names “TVXQ” and “Cassiopeia” right now. It’s not like their fan pages ever forced the fans to make a purchase by saying “We must use only this brand of cosmetics because it’s sold by TVXQ!!” Visiting the cosmetics sales office to buy some cosmetics and talk to the members’ parents in small groups was like going on a fun trip for the fans. How was this any different from going to the pizzeria owned by Junsu’s parents, or the ice cream parlor owned by Yoochun’s mother, or the restaurant owned by Jaejoong’s mother? It is all right to have photos of Junsu hanging on the walls of the pizzeria, but it is a violation of portrait rights inside the cosmetics sales office? I wonder how many Korean celebrities do not actually run a sideline business. Are they all committing a crime then? They all run their business with the help of their fame.

To those who insist that Jaejoong, Junsu, and Yoochun neglected their responsibilities and left TVXQ because they were “addicted to the taste of money”, when did they ever neglect their responsibilities? They have always been extremely strict on themselves and have never missed one scheduled activity even when they were working through a deadly, jam-packed schedule. Then anti-fans say “they run the cosmetics business for money”. Of course they did it for money!!! Why else would one run a business, to just give it away? LOL. Those Ho-Tel fans always make a big deal out of nothing and make it sound like an unforgivable crime. They would criticize Jaejoong, Junsu, and Yoochun for even breathing. Those Ho-Tel girls.

I guess there are fans who still do not know what Ho-Tel means.

Ho stands for 호적파인갤 (a gallery cut off from relation, starts with syllable “Ho”) which is DC inside “Heading to the Ground” (Yunho’s first drama) Gallery. HTTG was once linked to DC inside TVXQ Gallery, but the link was later removed when HTTG gallery became infested with Homin-only fans who started spreading false rumors about JYJ.

Tel stands Telzone TVXQ Gallery of Daum

Since Ho-Tel girls have extended their territories and are everywhere these days, “Ho-Tel girl” has become the name for any Yunho and Changmin fan who believes that JYJ is the source of all evil. LOL. Recently, they have realized that it is almost impossible to bring Cassiopeia over to their side and are spreading rumors against JYJ on popular websites among non-fans. They try to be as noticeable as they can; therefore, even the people who have no knowledge of TVXQ’s situation are aware of the existence of the Ho-Tel.

Original Text written by Moto

Translation by hopeforjyj **

** I apologize for ending the article in the middle without any conclusion, but this was the way it was originally written. The second part will focus on the unfair contract between TVXQ members and SM Entertainment.