Ever since the announcement of JYJ splitting from SM Entertainment on July 31, 2009, both the members of TVXQ and their fans have been riding a long roller coaster with numerous ups and downs along the way. After revealing their new album, ‘The Beginning’, last October, the JYJ trio has become increasingly confident about expressing the thoughts they’ve kept to themselves this past year.
- You won the Golden Disk Awards twice in your careers (2006, 2008), did you watch this year’s awards show?
“We watched it. It made us reminisce about our past, as well as feel new emotions. It’s already been two years since we stood up on that stage. We’ve carefully stored away our Golden Disk platinum medal.” (Yoochun)
- We’ve heard that Hero Jaejoong is popular amongst Japanese female celebrities. There were even rumors about him being in a relationship with one.
“All those articles about relationships are just fiction. It’s true that I get along with the Japanese female stars, but there isn’t one that I’m in a relationship with. Japan is different from Korea in that their celebrities all comfortably get along privately. I’m close with Hamasaki Ayumi, which is probably where the relationship rumors came from.” (Jaejoong)
“Jaejoong has everything Japanese girls like about guys. He has cute and sexy charms all in one body. But in real life, he doesn’t have a girlfriend.” (Yoochun)
- Korean artists seem to be popular in Japan.
“The status of Korean artists in Japan have increased to their advantage. Korean singers are becoming acknowledged for their dancing, singing, and looks. It’s not just their skills, but they also admire Korean males for their nice bodies and being able to drink alcohol well.” (Jaejoong)
- You’ve worked so hard in Japan for how many years, but you’re unable to promote.
“We predicted that there would be difficulties along the way. We’re just thankful that we were able to even release an English album. We’re disappointed, but all we’re hoping for is to get everything solved so we can meet our fans again.” (Junsu)
- What warranted you to withdraw from the team, even when you knew it would be hard? You knew there would be a possibility of people pointing at you for betrayal.
“Up until we made our decision, we lived in chaos for over a year. At the time, there were a lot of speculations regarding business and revenue shares, but we only have one answer. We thought about how we would answer ourselves if we were to ask, “Were we really happy?”, later in life. From the moment we realized we would answer, “I don’t think so”, there was no point of us hesitating any longer. We are sorry for everyone who supported us and helped us, but we put down the decision that we couldn’t do this to our own lives anymore.” (Junsu)
- But it wouldn’t have been easy to make that decision at the peak of your careers.
“We were prepared to face the possibility of not being able to be sing again. If we weren’t prepared to that extent, we wouldn’t have had enough courage to make that decision. We even thought of going to the countryside to build and live on a farm. We also thought this would turn into a 10 year long fight.” (Junsu)
“It’s true. We all knew our celebrity lives could end. We didn’t even have hope of doing well. I thought of selling my house in Seoul to live in the countryside.” (Yoochun)
- There are a lot of mountains you must get over, like not being able to go on broadcast.
“Even though we get criticized a lot at the beginning, doesn’t it get better later on? It’s hard when problems keep surfacing, but we’re learning how to win over them. When something bad explodes, I turn off my internet and don’t even read articles. Even though it’s a bad situation, we try to be positive. Being pessimistic just because we’re sad makes the people around us even more stressed. That’s why I write up fun messages on my Twitter and try to communicate with our fans.” (Jaejoong)
- Do you still keep in contact with SM’s Yunho and Changmin?
“We’re really sad that we can’t. We’re not saying that just because we left the company it means we left the members too… We watched their album teaser for the January comeback. We honestly hope they will do well.” (Jaejoong)
- You three members must have become more independent.
“We didn’t have a lot of time together because of our busy schedules, but after our concert last month, us three went on a nationwide trip. We traveled from Kangwon-do to Busan in two weeks. We rode yachts and went to find the nation’s best restaurants. We found out that Junsu has a lot of popularity in the countryside.” (Yoochun)
- When does TVXQ shine the most?
“We hope we can shine even more when the five of us are together. We’re open to the idea, although we’re not sure when that will happen…” (Yoochun)
- Do you have any special plans for Christmas?
“None of us have girlfriends… I think us three will be getting together for some soju.”
Source: JoongAng
