Popular group TVXQ’s three members asked for a suspension of their exclusive contract against SM Entertainment and the first hearing occurred on the 21st.

Seoul District Court’s Judge Park Byungdae, after listening to both sides, said, “We think the best way to solve this dispute is for the two sides come to a mutual agreement, when we put the responsibility for biggest fan club in the world and the relationship with the other two members into consideration.“

The judge stated, “If both side would like to set a settlement date that will not be open to the public, that can be arranged,” and urged both sides to come to a mutual agreement.

The Courts agreed to both sides’ wishes of ending this dispute early on and will come to a decision after examining all the related materials handed in on September 11th which is 3 weeks after this first hearing.

The lawyer representing the three members said, “They do not want a disbandment of TVXQ,” and “There are cases where teams stay together even if the members are in different agencies.”

Also, when the Courts asked whether they wanted a ‘cancellation of their contract’ or a ‘revision of their contract’, the lawyer replied, “It depends on how competent SM Entertainment will be to support TVXQ’s transition from an idol group to a more mature artist group,” and “The opportunities are endless.”

SM Entertainment’s lawyer said, “Although the three members who filed this lawsuit are not having their right violated, the agency is losing a lot of money due to this trial so we wish for it to end quickly and for TVXQ to start their activities again,” and “The only reason SME asked the three members to not participate in the Chinese cosmetic company branch was because the agency feared that TVXQ’s image might be damaged in some way; the agency had no other intentions.”

The Courts said, “As long as this lawsuit has been filed, please refrain from talking about or attack the other side through the media.”

TVXQ’s three out of five members, Xiah Junsu (Kim Junsu), YoungWoong Jaejoong, (Kim Jaejoong) and Micky Yoochun (Park Yoochun), stated that “Our 13 year exclusive contract can basically be seen as a life contract, and we did not receive proper treatment from SME in many aspects such as income division,” and filed their lawsuit on July 31st.

Source: [yeonhap news+DNBN]
Translations: jeeelim5@tohosomnia