By JONATHAN M. HICAP
JYJ’s ‘In Heaven’ (Photo courtesy of C-JeS Entertainment)
MANILA, Philippines – Korean boy band JYJ will release their first Korean album “In Heaven” on Sept. 22. The 10-track album contains songs like “Mission,” “Nine,” “Boy’s Letter” and “Pierrot,” as well as the title track, which was written and composed by band member Kim Jaejoong.
But while JYJ—which also includes Xiah Junsu and Park Yoochun—are excited over “In Heaven,” being that this is their first album in Korea as a trio, there is a looming uncertainty on whether JYJ will finally be allowed to perform on Korean TV music shows given the current ban imposed on them. The ban is due to the legal case between them and influential Korean agency SM Entertainment Korean album as a trio.
The three JYJ members sued SM Entertainment in 2009 to annul their exclusive contracts. They left their group TVXQ and formed JYJ.
The lawsuit dragged on in a Korean court in the last two years to the disadvantage of the trio, whose singing career is being hindered by the case.
Since forming JYJ, the trio has been unable to perform on music shows KBS “Music Bank,” SBS “Inkigayo,” MBC “Music Core” and Mnet’s “M! Countdown.”