"We can't shake off the thought that Avex was using the three of us as tools to make more profits, instead of treating us as artists." Such an opinion was made by JYJ (Xiah Junsu, Hero Jaejoong, Micky Yoochun) about their Japanese company Avex, after their announcement of JYJ's promotion discontinuation in Japan. On the 17th, JYJ released: "First, we are sorry to our fans to have to bring them this kind of news" and that "We were very sad to have received news of a promotion cessation despite all of our cooperation and discussions with Avex". They continued: "It feels very stifling to not be able to fulfill our promise to meet our Japanese fans" and that "In order to solve this, we need the consent and attention from our fans". They added: "We hope to be able to meet our fans as soon as possible when our promotions are resumed". Avex dropped JYJ's Japanese promotions because the Korean company JYJ was affiliated with were allegedly attached to organized crimes of extortion and blackmail. JYJ responded, saying that their Korean company had yet to be judged on whether or not it was affiliated with organized crimes. Avex shot back an accusation that JYJ had known about the issue before they even signed the contract. JYJ then clarified: "That content does not break our current contract with Avex, so it cannot be the cause for a discontinuation in promotions, nor nullification of our contract". Also, "Many months ago, because of this same issue, Avex requested that C-JES Entertainment be omitted from the contract. ...JYJ agreed to this request and devotedly participated in the contract discussions because we wanted to have smooth promotions within Japan". They further criticized: "But Avex gave JYJ a substantially disadvantageous condition different from what we had originally agreed on the contract; once we declined that condition, they suddenly developed this stance to cancel the contract based on C-JES's alleged crimes". In relation to this contract case, lawyer Im Sang Hyuk of Se-Jong Law Firm (the law firm that is in charge of the legal aspect of this case) commented, "It was immoral of the company (Avex) to put JYJ in a tight spot just because they acted in such a way that would not satisfy the company (Avex)'s greed". He emphasized that "Many efforts will be put into solving this case so that JYJ can continue their promotions smoothly in Japan". On the 16th, Avex revealed through JYJ's official homepage on their website that "In order to obey the morals of working principles in our company headquarters, we have judged that we cannot manage JYJ's promotions". Credits: EDaily