Conclusion of 6.25 - Why I started this blog Part II

I guess it's only fitting to conclude the chapter on 6.25 meeting today, exactly 2 years after the meeting was held.

The readers may remember that my very first post on this blog was brief explanation on why I decided to start blogging about TVXQ.
http://truetvxq.blogspot.com/2010/12/why-i-started-this-blog.html

I wrote that I wasn't a die-hard fan of any K-pop artist, and as matter fact, I love rock music, specifically Heavy Metal/Classic Rock. (Metallica!!!) But I do listen to other kind of music, and I love listening to K-Pop and respect the artists' ability to perform complicated dance routines while singing.

Some of you may be wondering why is a person who's not even a fan running this blog, spending so much time and energy? Here's why and how I got into this.

As I said in my first post, I knew something wasn't right when TVXQ broke up with only 3 members filing the lawsuit instead of all 5 which prompted me to check out the contract, and reading the contract was as far as I got regarding the matter. I wasn't really a fan of TVXQ, and I just checked out the contract to see how K-Pop artists' contract was structured out of curiosity. After I read it, I knew the contract was actually pretty good except for a couple clauses as I stated in my entry about the contract, and it was definitely not a "slave" contract and not bad enough to break up the band. I didn't really care too much about the lawsuit since I wasn't a fan. I'm into sports as other men are, and contract disputes over money happen every day. You see athletes with huge contract fighting for more money, so I just assumed it was over money and left it at that.

I think it was around October of 2010. I was surfing YouTube, checking out some music videos, and happened to watch TVXQ's "Mirotic" video. I noticed that there were some comments from users bashing SM for their "slave" contract, but they were using wrong info based on what was spreading around in many fan sites at that time. They were using this info: http://truetvxq.blogspot.com/p/lies.html

I started to comment about the contract trying to correct the mistake, and got into a heated debate with a Junsu's fan. I knew my info was the correct one since I read it from the source, but she could not be convinced and claimed that the contract I read was a fake (really?). I even told her I read it in Korean, but it was no use. She didn't even believe I was a Korean. Then she started throwing other stuff at me which I had no idea about, so I started doing more research into the matter. I have read articles from many English sites and Korean sites, and read both sides of the argument. That was when I realized that many international fans only had access to limited information, twisted and manipulated ones at that.

What I didn't understand was that many of them were claiming they were fans of all 5, but bashing SM at the same time that didn't make sense at all. If you really support Yunho and Changmin, how can you bash a company they chose to stay and work with? It's really a simple logic, and I commented many times about the fallacy of it, but most people just didn't get it and refused to admit it.
 
Anyways, I kept going back to that video, and got into many debates (argument, fight, whatever you want to call it) mostly with the same group of people (JYJ fans), and as I was going through it, I started to gain more knowledge. I had an advantage because of my Korean skills, and I was getting information that they never heard of, and eventually they couldn't argue with me any more and started making personal attacks and put a "Pro-SM" label on me.

That was when I found out about the 6.25 meeting and learned that all these lies and deceit were not accidental, but rather planned and systematically spread. I actively started to defend Yunho and Changmin on various threads (youtube, allkpop, blogs etc.) because I felt it was so unfair and unjust for two young men, who did nothing but the right thing, to be bashed relentlessly by many biased, clueless fans. As I found out more about the two, I began to gain tremendous respect towards them. In my opinion, they've handled the situation exceptionally well despite the emotional toll they must've endured, being framed by their close friends and their career almost ruined.

As I was getting involved in the debates, I was also getting questions from others who wanted to learn more about what I knew. It was getting frustrating because there was only so much I could provide, and there wasn't any international site available that I could direct them to. I found myself saying the same thing repeatedly, just to different people.

So I began to think that my time would be better utilized if I made a blog instead of repeating same info over and over, but I was hesitant to do it because I knew it would take a lot of effort and time considering the vast amount of documents and information that needed to be translated.

It was soon announced that TVXQ would come back with Yunho and Changmin. I thought that their comeback would calm everything down by making the fans to just support their respective band, and eventually two sides will just go separate ways. CJS themselves gave indications every chance they had that they were over with TVXQ and quite happy with their career as JYJ.

Then the tweets started coming and the attacks by the fans.

I realized that there was no end in sight, and here I am, typing this post, running this blog.

So please thank that Junsu's fan, because without her, TrueTVXQ blog wouldn't exist.


Why did they need the 6.25 meeting?

So let's talk about the 6.25 meeting. Why did they hold it in the first place? Why did the 3 and/or their parents felt the need to spread the lies, blaming the breakup on HoMin and SM? Couldn't they just file the lawsuit, start their career as JYJ while running the cosmetics business? Why was it necessary to ruin 2 men's career and the reputation of a company who worked to make TVXQ together?

If you recall, the conclusion article I wrote for the cosmetics business ended with this paragraph:

"Now the final question. Even with the money making potential the cosmetics business presented, TVXQ also had big potential to make more money since they were just starting to get really big in Japan and Asia, so why would CJS risk breaking the group by filing the lawsuit? Was the cosmetics business that big that CJS would give up TVXQ? That would be answered in my future posts."

http://truetvxq.blogspot.com/2011/01/conclusion.html

The answer to the above questions? The 6.25 meeting.

They not only wanted to continue the cosmetics business, but they also weren't willing to give up TVXQ. More accurately, they didn't want to give up TVXQ's earning power. We know that they didn't care about the TVXQ name itself from the way they ran their cosmetics business, throwing TVXQ around everywhere, so it had to be the money.


It is not that hard to see that they'd lose the fans' support if the real cause of them leaving SM was known to the fans, and many fans would've left them. Just read the 6.25 transcript again, and you can clearly see the purpose of the meeting. The topics that were discussed the most in that meeting were Crebeau, HoMin taking SM's bait and changing their mind, bad contract, and the 3's intentions of keeping TVXQ together, and to keep TVXQ, HoMin had to leave SM with them.  The meeting was held to hide the real reason for the breakup, shift the blame on HoMin, and appeal to the fans that they want to keep TVXQ together (reason for their fans preaching AKTF nonsense even now). By painting themselves as victims, they earned the fans' sympathy, making them unite in their support.
How well did it work? Exceptionally well as we all know. The 3 had fans' full support in everything they did. Fans supported them while the 3 accepted MNet's award without the 2 when the date was originally scheduled for a TVXQ concert in China. Tokyo dome? A-Nation? CJS' fan meeting right after cancelling the TVXQ fan meeting? Not even a question. Having dedicated fans who'd do anything to protect their "oppas" at any cost helped too. As most readers know, the effect of 6.25 meeting is still felt even today. There are fans who still believe and spread the lies that were created in that meeting 2 years ago.

As matter of fact, the fans are one of the biggest victims in this. I have read many fan accounts from the fans who initially supported CJS who later found out the truth, and had to go through painful process of healing to get over the shock and disappointment over the artist who they supported with all their heart. I'm sure many readers here can relate to that.

I wouldn't care if they just split for money. It happens to other bands, and they aren't the first and they won't be the last, but holding a secret meeting to frame the members they used to call "brothers"? Unforgivable. And it is still going on even now.

It was a huge blessing for Yunho and Changmin that 6.25 recording became available to the public. The tide started to turn once the file became widely available. The non fans' public opinions was initially supporting the 3, but after listening to the recording, their opinions changed and the support towards Yunho and Changmin started to grow.

Another effect of 6.25 meeting was that it solidified TVXQ's breakup. The 3 didn't need to make any kind of settlement with SM and go back to the company since they had the fans' overwhelming support. Just look at what happened with Kara who were in a very similar situation as TVXQ. The difference was that there was no 6.25 meeting, and the fans did not support the 3 like they did for CJS. Kara's 3 members eventually settled their differences with the company and came back, and they are working together again.

That's exactly what needed to be done with TVXQ to prevent the breakup, and if you recall Forever's post, that's precisely what she was pleading the fans to do, but to no avail.

There are positives that we got out of this whole saga. The fans finally got to see what Yunho and Changmin are capable of on their own, and their hidden talents are in full display for others to see. By going through this adversity, the 2 came back much stronger and with determination, and it shows in their performances. Also, the fans really found out the true colors of each members. I personally do not put too much weight on the image of the entertainers displayed to the public because I am aware that their persona are mostly manufactured by those around them, which I also do not mind. It's not like I'm going to have a personal relationship with those entertainers, so as long as I like what they bring to the table, I'm ok with it and don't really care how their real life is.

But as I got to learn more about Yunho and Changmin, I could see that those two men are genuinely great people, and they have earned tremendous respect from me the way they handled this crisis. That was another reason for me to start this blog.

Am I a fan of TVXQ now? Yes, you can say that. I support Yunho and Changmin as a person. Their music and performances aren't bad either. :)

So that about concludes the chapter on 6.25 meeting. That is the whole reason I support Yunho and Changmin, and the real reason I am making effort to spread the truth.