TVXQ

TVXQ 東方神起
Background information
Also known as	Dong Bang Shin Ki Tong Vfang Xien Qi Tōhōshinki
Origin	Seoul, South Korea
Genre(s)	K-pop, J-pop, a cappella, manufactured pop, r&b
Years active	2003–present
Label(s)	SM Entertainment Avex Asia (ROC) Rhythm Zone (Japan) GMM Grammy (Thailand)
Associated acts	BoA Kumi Koda SMTown The Trax
Website	Official Korean website Official Japanese website
Members
Xiah Junsu Micky Yoochun Hero Jaejoong Max Changmin U-know Yunho

TVXQ (often stylized TVXQ! or TVfXQ), an acronym for Tong Vfang Xien Qi (東方神起), is a quintet South Korean boy band formed under SM Entertainment in 2003. In South Korea they are known as Dong Bang Shin Ki or Dong Bang Shin Gi (동방신기). They were later introduced in Japan as Tōhōshinki (東方神起, Tōhōshinki^?) under Avex sub label, Rhythm Zone in 2005. Their name roughly translates as "Rising Gods of the East". ^[1] TVXQ, the acronym based on the Chinese counterpart of their name, is the abbreviation officially used on all products and advertisements outside of Japan.

Since their debut, TVXQ has become one of the most popular singing groups in East Asia, gaining great popularity in such countries as China, Singapore, Thailand, and other East Asian regions.^[2].

Musical style

Although TVXQ was initially marketed as an a cappella group, most of the group's music is mainstream K-pop and J-pop. Their debut single "Hug" was a bubblegum pop song, but their follow up single "The Way U Are" was a dance/R&B number, complete with stylized outfits and choreographed dance moves. However the song of their first album, '믿어요(I Believe...)', was a ballad. TVXQ concluded the year with a Christmas album that also had an a cappella version of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring". With their releases in 2004, the group showed a versatility in style.

With consecutive releases, they have not moved from this formula, as their second and third albums have had a similar mixture without moving outside of the mainstream. The second album's singles, for example, included a dance song (their first release) and a ballad (their follow up). The third album's releases have been dance, ballad and pop tracks. The group also recorded a cappella tracks for official albums released in both Korea and Japan, in which they rearrange original songs as a cappella versions. In the 13th single released in Japan, TVXQ arranged their debut single 'Hug' as an a cappella track and performed it in their 2nd Live Tour in Japan.

In Japan, the group's image and music has shifted towards a different market from the one in South Korea. Owing to their more mature fan base in Japan, TVXQ has gravitated towards a cappella and melodic pop songs rather than the heavy and fast pop tunes, coupled with intensive dance choreography, that are commonly seen in their usual hits in South Korea.

History

2003: Debut

Before debut, there were several tentative names for the group. Each member was to come up with ideas for the name of the group. The three names suggested were Oh Jang Yook Bu (오장육부, the five visceras), Jun Muhk Go, (전설을 먹고 사는 고래, A Whale That Eats Legends), and Dong Bang Bul Pae (동방불패, the Korean title of Ashes of Time).^[3] The group decided on Dong Bang Bul Pae, and Lee Soo Man asked the film's director for permission to use the name. In the end, however, the name was rejected because its Hanja was not aesthetically pleasing, and the group name was changed instead to Dong Bang Shin Ki.

TVXQ made their first appearance on December 26, 2003 during a BoA Showcase. They performed their debut song "Hug" as well as an a cappella rendition of "O Holy Night" alongside BoA. The group released two singles ("Hug" and "The Way U Are"), accompanied by photo books in the following year. TVXQ reached #1 on Korean music charts in three months after their debut. In October 2004, the first album Tri-Angle was released.

Their official fan club derives its name from the Cassiopeia constellation near the Little Dipper. The constellation consists of 5 main stars, and TVXQ has 5 members. When traced on a computer keyboard, "TVfXQ" resembles Cassiopeia.

SM Entertainment once considered adding a Chinese member to the group and rotate members to help boost popularity in other countries, as hinted in The 3rd StoryBook - TVfXQ!. The purpose would have been to branch each member into different solo activities, or possibly combine other trainees into the group.^[4] However, the idea was abandoned due to opposition from fans who threatened to boycott SM Entertainment products.

2005: Second Korean album Rising Sun

During 2005, TVXQ expanded its career into Japan. The group marked its official debut in Japan with the release of the single Stay with Me Tonight on April 27, 2005. ^[5] (Earlier in the year, the English version of their single "Hug" and their first Korean album Tri-Angle had been released in Japan without much attention).

TVXQ continued to release two additional singles entitled "Somebody to Love" and "My Destiny". While in Korea, the group released its second Korean album Rising Sun, which ranked #1 on the monthly charts and #4 for the yearly sales, and continues to chart in the top 100. Due to demand, the album was officially released in other foreign countries in 2007^[6]. Weeks before the album's release in Korea, Hero faced a leg injury which prevented him from dancing in the Rising Sun music video or on stage performances and from taking part in some of the album's promotional activities. For group dance sequences on stage he was instead replaced by another dancer.

TVXQ later released a joint single album with label-mate Super Junior, Show Me Your Love which also debuted as #1 on the monthly charts^[7]. In addition, the group began acting careers in Banjun Theater drama episodes. Micky Yuchun and U-Know Yunho appeared in guest acting roles for the Nonstop 6 (Rainbow Romance) series. At the end of the year, TVXQ received the Best Music Video award for the song "Rising Sun" and the People's Choice Award at the 2005 Mnet KM Music Video Festival. ^[8]

On June 14, 2005, TVXQ and BoA were appointed as PR spokespeople for the city of Los Angeles in the United States.^[9]

2006: Third Korean album and overseas expansion

TVXQ at a FILA fan meeting on April 26, 2006

Going overseas

Before returning to their homeland South Korea with their third album in fall, TVXQ endeavored to spread their influence further in other East Asian countries. They held their first Asian tour, including shows in South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, China and Japan. TVXQ members were the first Korean performers to ever stage a concert in Malaysia for their "Rising Sun 1st Asia Tour" in Bukit Jalil (Putra Indoor Stadium) ^[10]. The tour, in promotion for their 2nd Korean album Rising Sun released in 2005, continued to Bangkok in Thailand at the Impact Arena.

Soon afterwards, the group began to prepare for the first tour in Japan in promotion of its first Japanese album, Heart, Mind and Soul. The members focused on increasing their fluency in Japanese for their activities^[11]. TVXQ performed at a-nation, an annual Japanese live summer concert organized by Avex Trax that features J-pop artists under the record label, and released five Japanese singles that year.

The group became the first Asian group to win two Thailand Music Awards, for both Best Music Video ("Rising Sun") and Favorite Asian Artist. They also won the Popular Vote Asia Artist award at the Virgin Hits Awards 2006 in Thailand. Their seventh Japanese single "Sky" hit #6 on the Oricon Weekly Chart^[12], and their eighth single, "Miss You/'O'-Sei.Han.Gō", reached #3. In addition, the group has topped both the Japanese and Korean charts on the Malaysian radio show "988" twice with the singles "Begin" and "The Fighting Spirit Of The East"; the show has an audience of about 4.2 million listeners, reaching as far as Singapore. ^[13]

Return to Korea

The group returned to Korea in late August in order to prepare for their third album titled "O"-Jung.Ban.Hap. ("O"-正.反.合.), released on September 29, 2006. The album's name translates to 'O'-Thesis.Antithesis.Synthesis to reflect the title song's theme of degradation and corruption in society and the power of the people to avert this change. After topping several music charts in Korea, "O" - Jung.Ban.Hap. was re-released on November 11, 2006 to coincide with the group's image change for the promotion of their second title song "Balloons." This release contained new versions of "Balloons" and "Get Me Some", along with a new track entitled "White Lie" written and composed by Xiah Junsu. "Balloons," in contrast to the lead single "O"-Jung. Ban.Hap. and its heavy techno beats, was a lighter pop song about the innocence of childhood. It was a remake of an old hit by Five Fingers (Korean), re-written with a "modern feel" to appeal to younger generations while relating adults familiar with the original, in an attempt to broaden their fanbase further.^[14]. In the first month of its release, "O"- Jung. Ban.Hap. surpassed the 100,000 mark in South Korea and became the highest ranking Korean album in sales overall for 2006, with over 385,000 copies sold in South Korea as of December 2007.^[15]

Aside music, the group acted together in their feature 4-episode theatrical drama VACATION, later released with the 3rd album DVD. With the success of their 3rd album and rise in popularity, they were invited to several popular Korean variety shows such as X-Man, Heroine 6, and Ya Shim Man Man. Hero Jaejoong and Micky Yuchun also acted in a skit comedy on MBC's Goldfish. Their All About TVXQ DVD became the best-selling DVD for 2006 in South Korea, with sales of 47,186 copies surpassing those of movies and shows. With the success of the DVD, the co-producers SBS and SM Entertainment decided to release All About TVXQ season 2 in a 5-DVD box set for 2007.^[16]

The year 2006 was marked with many scandals for the group in Korea, including Hero Jaejoong's adoptive parents issue, the anti-fan incident with the leader U-know Yunho, and TVXQ's winnings in all the major music award shows in Korea. The group's sweeping of every Artist of The Year (Daesang) award caused many critics to question the legitimacy of the award shows, blaming netizen online votes of being unfair. At 2006 MKMF Music Festival, TVXQ won four awards including Best Group and Artist of the Year.^[17] At the 16th Music Seoul Festival, they won three awards including Daesang, equivalent to Artist of the Year ^[18] followed by another Daesang at the 21st Golden Disk Awards 2006, in addition to a Bonsang.^[19] Lastly, they also picked up awards at the SBS Gayo Awards 2006 in which they were awarded the prominent title of Daesang and Bonsang.

2007: Japanese activities and concerts

TVXQ in Paris, France for the Bonjour Paris photobook shoot.

After sweeping major awards in South Korea, TVXQ flew to Japan for almost a year to do intensive promotions and gain a stronger foothold in the Japanese music industry, the second largest in the world. The year also marked the beginning of their second and largest Asia concert tour, the "2nd Asia Tour Concert 'O'" and later the 2nd Japanese live tour with the release of Five in the Black album. They also released consecutive monthly singles, which according to Oricon Style, helped raise their recognition in Japan with every release by 3% in 2006, increasing to 5% with every release in 2007. 14.1% of Japanese fans were female while 4.6% were male with age demographics between 10 to 40 years old^[20].

The single "Choosey Lover" was released on March 7th, ^[21] followed by "Lovin' You" which debuted at #2 on the Oricon charts in June, their first single to reach such a position in Japan. Closely following its success, the bubblegum pop tunes of "Summer Dream" became TVXQ's most successful Japanese single in 2007, debuting at #1 ^[22] and with sales of 112,771 copies in a week. Their double A-side single "SHINE / Ride On" debuted at #2 on the Oricon daily charts in October. Japanese singer Koda Kumi collaborated with TVXQ for her 38th single "Last Angel", which was released November 7th and ranked #3 on debut; the song was featured in the movie Resident Evil: Extinction. The collaboration with Koda Kumi aided TVXQ in raising recognition among teenage males (58.0%) and men in their 30s (62.0%) of the group, which could grow to be a new fan base for the group^[23]. In the same month, their 14th Japanese single "FOREVER LOVE" also debuted at #3. In December, the title song single "Together" for the "Cinnamon" animation movie debuted at #2.

In early April, the members began hosting a weekly radio program called "TVXQ Bigeastation" on Japan FM Network channel, which is currently being aired on seven local FM stations ^[24]. The group represented Korea on MTV's Video Music Awards Japan and won the 'Best Buzz Asia in Korea' award on May 26th, 2007. They were also invited to many prominent Japanese talk and music shows such as Hey!Hey!Hey! and Utaban during their stay.

TVXQ's Korean fanclub "Cassiopeia" in its representative pearl-red color during Dream Concert in South Korea.

In South Korea, the group released their first digital single entitled "여행기 (Yeo Haeng Gi)", along with "천년연가 (千年恋歌) (A Thousand Years' Love Song)", "하루달 (Day Moon)", "All in Vain", "한여름의 크리스마스 (One Summer Night's Christmas)" and "Evergreen" ; these were the only songs that were released in Korean during 2007. Evergreen was particularly special to fans because it was a song where the music was composed by group member Micky Yuchun and the lyrics written by group member Max Changmin. TVXQ's guest performances in concerts, such as 2007 DREAM Concert and Mnet 20's Choice Awards, appearances of Korean variety shows, and personal access to Korean fans through celebrity websites such as Iple and UFOtown, ensured that TVXQ still provided entertainment for the Cassiopeians. During a virtual presidential election by MTV Korea, the group was voted as the "President of the Republic of Korean Music" among thirty other candidates by netizens. Because of this win, MTV and Boombox declared December 23 as “TVXQ Day”.^[25] They were also appointed as the Korea's e-government ambassadors by the South Korean government to help boost the new system to the citizens^[26]. In Thailand, TVXQ had the highest foreign artists sales of 114,027 for 2007, while their single " SHINE" was #1 on the “Top 10 of No.1 on Year Chart 2007” charts by Channel V Thailand.

2008: 3rd Japanese Album and 4th Korean Album

TVXQ started off the year with the release of their 16th Japanese single "Purple Line", written by the Korean composer of TVXQ's previous hits "Rising Sun" and ""O"-Jung.Ban.Hap.", on January 16th. "Purple Line" topped the Oricon Weekly Chart, becoming the group's first #1 on the weekly charts in Japan; TVXQ became the first foreign male group to accomplish this feat ^[27]. The group also promoted the single in Korea, where a Korean version of the song was released. The following week, the group released its third Japanese album, entitled T. As an exclusive extra, the group included "Kiss Shita Mama, Sayonara" ("Kissしたまま、さよなら") which was composed and written by the members Micky Yuchun and Hero Jaejoong, and their own version of "LAST ANGEL" in the album. T debuted on Oricon charts as #2.

Rhythm Zone, a side label of Avex, created a new marketing strategy for TVXQ by releasing five additional singles in February and March 2008 in consecutive weeks after the release of the album T. Each single contained a member's solo and a song that was part of "TRICK", which was on the T album.

On March 28th, TVXQ was appointed the "Goodwill Ambassador for Asia" by Universal Studios Japan to promote the attractions of USJ^[28].

The group released its 22nd single, "Beautiful You / Sennen Koi Uta (千年恋うた‎‎)" on April 23, 2008. The single debuted at number one on the Oricon daily and weekly charts, becoming TVXQ's third single to reach that position on the daily charts and second single to reach that position in the weekly chart. The group thus became the second non-Japanese Asian artist to do so, the first being Taiwanese artist Ouyang Feifei (歐陽菲菲), 24 years and 5 months ago.^[29][30].

On May 17, 2008, TVXQ performed at the 6th Korean Music Festival in Los Angeles, California. They also took part in ensemble encore performances of "Balloons" and SMTown's "Let's Go on a Trip." In addition, the group performed as the closing act at the 14th Annual Dream Concert at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul on June 7, 2008. On June 12th, TVXQ ended their 2nd Asia Tour in Beijing with a performance for over 200,000 fans; the tour had begun on February 23, 2007 in Seoul, and spanned 13 performances covering Taipei, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai and Beijing. On top of that, their two separate live tours in Japan during 2007 and 2008 drew crowds of 55,000 and 150,000, respectively, for a total of 390,000 audience members attending concerts.^[31]

On July 22, 2008, TVXQ became the first non-Japanese Asian artist to have three number one hits on the weekly Oricon singles chart, when their single " Why Did I Fall In Love With You? (どうして君を好きになってしまったんだろう？) attained the number one position with weekly sales of 68,000 copies.^[32] On June 22, 2008, TVXQ was invited to perform at Avex's 20th anniversary general meeting of stockholders at the Saitama Super Arena. TVXQ, which established itself as the face of Avex, was among the performers at the event. Other performers included singer and songwriter Noriyuki Makihira, TRF, and seven-member dance vocal group Exile.^[33] In Japan, TVXQ was also listed at #16 in the Most Searched Male Artist when Yahoo! Japan released its 2008 Search Word Ranking for the first half of the year.^[34]

TVXQ was also chosen as the new faces of the Lotte Duty Free Shops (DFS). A Lotte DFS representative explained that TVXQ was a well-known group all across Asia, so they believed that TVXQ was the most suitable choice as spokespeople for the Lotte Duty Free Shops. Ads that TVXQ shot for the company will be released in November, which is also when the group begins participating in various events sponsored by Lotte DFS.^[35]

On September 21, 2008, TVXQ performed a showcase event entitled TVXQ’s "Giving Young Adults Hopes and Dreams-Fall Mini Concert" for the release of their fourth studio album. It was located in front of City Hall, Seoul Plaza. This was TVXQ's first public performance for their fourth album; they performed the title song, "주문 (Mirotic)".^[36]

The group's 4th Korean album entitled "MIROTIC" was released on September 26th, 2008; it was originally scheduled for release on September 24th, but was delayed due to the pre-order amount of 330,000 albums. The title song of the album, "주문 (Mirotic)", was composed by Remee, Troelsen and Lucas Secon, who also wrote "Eat You Up" off of BoA's U.S. debut album "Look Who's Talking". Kenny Wormald, who has worked with Justin Timberlake, Chris Brown and Christina Aguilera, was put in charge of choreography of the title track, "Mirotic" which was unveiled online on September 19 through major music portals including Melon, Dosirak and Soribada.^[37]

Two days after its launch in music stores, "Mirotic" rose on music sale charts. According to Hanteo charts, the album has risen to #1 on its yearly chart. The album has also topped Hot Tracks, Yes24, and other music sale charts.^[38]"MIROTIC" is currently the best selling album of 2008 in Korea.^[39]

The Japanese version of the title song, entitled "呪文 －MIROTIC－", was released on October 15th and became the group's fifth single to reach the number one position on the Oricon Daily charts. It also became the group's fourth Japanese single to reach number one on Oricon's weekly chart, breaking their own record.^[40][41]

The group has also done a cover of the popular One Piece intro We Are by Hiroshi Kitadani [2]

TVXQ have also been cordially invited to the prestigious Japanese Kohaku Music Festival. It is a highly regarded honor for any artist and a feat achieved only by the most successful musicians of the year. They will be singing and competing alongside Japan's top acts near the end of December 2008.

Members

The first member to join was Kim Junsu. At the age of 12 he was brought into SM Entertainment through a televised talent search with Moon Hee Jun and Kangta from H.O.T. as judges. His vocals won over the judges and procured him thorough training for the next six years. After three years of training, he was supposed to debut, but puberty caused his voice to change and he was unable to sing until it ended after another three years. After six years, he debuted as Xiah Junsu (Xiah is pronounced Shee-ah in Korean). Xiah is the stage name that Kim himself chose, explaining to his fans that the name was short for "Asia", as Asia is pronounced "ah-shee-ah" in Korean. "Xiah" would be an implication of his desire to become not only a star in Korea, but also a star recognized all throughout the continent.

The group's second member, Jung Yunho, secured his spot in TVXQ through a dance competition in which he won first place. Being from Gwangju, he had to commute several hours from home to practice to even get a chance at becoming an entertainer. After his selection he gained some experience in the midst of spotlight by being a rapper and backup dancer for K-pop singer Dana- who is now no longer a solo but a member in The Grace. As a dancer, he accompanied many Korean singers, traveling to China as well. Jung debuted as U-know Yunho. His chose his stage name as "U-know" from his Korean name "Yun Ho"; U-Know is pronounced "You know" in English. However, it is meant to mean "Yunho 'Knows You'" in regard to his understanding of the other members as the leader. He is also the leader of TVXQ.

Kim Jaejoong left his hometown in Chungnam to audition for SM Entertainment. Having left the shelter of home, he experienced poverty and strife before becoming a celebrity. Kim debuted as Youngwoong Jaejoong. His manager picked the name Hero for him because he wanted him to be the hero of the music industry. Kim took first place in an audition of 5000 people, both in best looking and best vocals.

Shim Changmin was grouped with the youngest participants in the audition. Like Xiah Junsu, he impressed the judges with his powerful voice. He joined the group under the name Choikang Changmin. Choikang in Korean means "Most Powerful", or approximately, "the best"; "Max" became an international rendition of this name.

One year before the group's debut, the final member, Park Yoochun was added. Park Yoochun grew up in Seoul and immigrated to the United States with his parents (who eventually divorced because of money shortages) when he was in the sixth grade.^[42] He lived in Fairfax, Virginia for roughly four years before he auditioned for Brothers Entertainment and was sent to Korea to SM Entertainment.^[42] Micky was Park's English nickname when he lived in Virginia. As the winner of a talent show, he was granted the opportunity to sign with SM Entertainment in Korea. He now performs under the stage name Micky Yoochun.

Member profiles

Discography

Main article: TVXQ discography

Member solo activities

Xiah

• Performed and toured around Korea as member of the promotional group Anyband with BoA, Tablo of Epik High, and Jin Bora. The project band was formed by Samsung's Anycall, and had several singles: "TPL (Talk, Play, Love)," "Promise U", "Daydream".
• Had a duet with Zhang Liyin, "Timeless", which was featured in Zhang's first single, "Timeless". He also sang the Chinese version of the song with Zhang, which was the last track of Zhang's first Chinese album, I WILL. Xiah was also featured in the second part of the two-part "Timeless" music videos.

Micky

• Appeared in Magolpi's debut music video "Flight Girl" (비행소녀)
• Was featured singer in DJ Makai's song, "Tokyo Lovelight"

Hero

• Sang "Greeting" (인사) which was featured on the A Millionaire's First Love soundtrack.
• Collaborated with The Grace for "Just for One Day", which was featured in The Grace's first Japanese full-length studio album, Graceful 4.
• Acting as the leading role in the teledrama "Heaven's Postman".

Max

• Wrote the lyrics for "Evergreen" in SM Town 2007 album.

U-know

• Before debuting under TVXQ, he was a backup dancer for Dana's 2002 single, "Diamond". He was also featured in the music video.

Controversies

Cyanoacrylate drink incident

While the group was filming a variety show in October 2006, U-Know was rushed to the hospital from drinking a beverage given by an anti-fan.^[45] U-Know drank from the bottle, believing it was given by a crew member. Because the drink was spiked with super glue, he was quickly instructed by his manager to vomit immediately after drinking it. The Anti turned herself in the next day. The female suspect, whose surname is Ko, apprehended on October 16, was a member of an anti-TVXQ website for over two years. In a letter to TVXQ, she states

^[46][47]

The incident still left behind unanswered questions, such as why U-know drank from the open container, and how the culprit managed to enter the building of the broadcasting station.^[48] U-Know called the police personally to request them not to press charges^[49] because "he has a little sister who is almost the woman's age."^[50] Because of his request, she was not charged.^[51]

Custody battle over Hero JaeJoong

On November 21, 2006, a man by the last name of Han filed a lawsuit against Hero's current legal guardians. Han claimed that he was the biological father of Hero, and thus wanted parental rights.^[52]

Han cited the reason for the lawsuit against Hero's legal guardians as "for not going through the proper procedures before registering [Hero] in [the legal guardians'] custody."^[53] He divorced Hero's biological mother in late 1980s, and gave up his custody over his child, leaving him under Mrs. Han's custody. However, he had found out some years ago Hero had been raised by a third party, not his biological mother. A DNA test was to be performed in order to prove validity of Han's claim. Many legal consultants comment that since the adoption had taken place correctly according to the corresponding law, no legal change will be involved regardless of the outcome.

The first hearing was to be held in Kongju, Hero's hometown on November 29, 2006. The fans of TVXQ were generally appalled by this news, questioning why Han did not privately contact Hero regarding this and why he did not keep in touch with his son before he rose to fame.^[52]

On November 22, Han dropped the charges against Hero's legal guardians.^[54] Han said that he originally intended to resolve his biological son's military duty conflicts after being informed of dual citizenship by Ministry of Military Affairs, which involved verifying the fact that he is the biological father. He did not expect his intention to lead to such a scandal, and states that he was scarred by speculations that he wanted to take advantage of Hero's fame.

In reaction to the matter, Hero uploaded a journal entry on his official fan club website, and said that he was informed of the existence of separate biological parents by his mother two or three years ago, and it had been quite a shock to him. With his current mother's support, his biological mother has been able to keep in touch with him, and to meet occasionally, but whereabouts of his father had been unknown.^[44]

He vigorously expressed his will to live by the name of "Kim Jaejoong," not by his birth name Han Jaejoon (한재준), and promised to be loyal to all four of his parents. He also said he did not want his family history exposed to the public due to this incident.^[44]

Incident with two Chinese ladies

In December 2008, the group caused a conflict in Korea. Shim Changmin went into the ladies' restroom under the impression that men's room was out of order. A Chinese woman ran into him while he was in the restroom and, frightened, attacked him with her handbag.^[55] As the lady exited the restroom, she was knocked down by a staff member of the group. The next day, however, a person calling herself the representative of the Chinese netizens apologized for the “mistake” on the official TVXQ website. Her action led to a series of angry responses that most China networks called “jihad”^[56].

Filmography

Banjun Theater

In 2005 and 2006, TVXQ released Banjun Theater, which aired on Korean television station SBS, that featured the boys as budding actors. They have acted in their own one- or two-episode dramas titled First Love (Parts 1 and 2), The Masked Fencer, The King's Men, Tokyo Holiday, Dangerous Love, Finding Lost Time, Uninvited Guest, and Unforgettable Love.

Theatrical dramas

• [2006] VACATION

VACATION, premiering in July 28, 2006, consisted of four episodes and a special: Cassiopeia (U-KNOW), Beautiful Life (Xiah and Max), The Way U Are (Hero) and Eternal (Micky), which were first shown at Yonsei University from July 7 to August 8, 2006, and were later released on the third (C) version of TVXQ's third album "O"-正.反.合. as a separate DVD. The group recorded an original soundtrack which consisted of two tracks and their instrumental versions.

• [Unreleased] Dating on Earth

Dating on Earth involves all five members, but only Micky and Hero are main characters. The drama has Micky married to a high school teacher (Played by Seo Hyun Jin from the group M.I.L.K) with whom Hero falls in love. U-Know, Max, and Xiah play minor roles.

• [Currently filming] "Heaven's Postal Delivery Man" (천국의 우편 배달부), a seven-episode drama starring Jaejoong in the first episode, is about a man who travels between the present and the afterlife to deliver messages to people. It is said that this will be a TeleCinema - i.e. a movie will be produced in addition to the drama that will last about one to two hours.

Awards

References

External links

• Official websites: (Korean)(Japanese)(Chinese)
• Tohoshinki Bigeastation (Radio)(Japanese)
• Bigeast Official Fanclub(Japanese)
• J!-ENT 500-page booklet and interview: "TVXQ and their Worldwide Fandom" (English)