An Official Apology from JYJ

[shintotchi.livejournal.com]

Kim Jaejoong has released an official apology concerning the sasaeng assault controversy that has surfaced in the past couple of days.

On March 8th (local time) Kim Jaejoong and the other JYJ members held a press conference in Santiago, Chile at the Raddison Hotel for the JYJ 2012 Latin America tour. During this conference, the members opened up about the sasaeng controversy.

The members confessed that ever since they debuted in 2004, they have had to endure extremely painful moments because of sasaeng fans.

JYJ’s Kim Junsu even stated “they use our identification to expose our private phone calls and also place GPS trackers on our cars to monitor our every move. There were instances of breaking and entering where fans would take pictures of us while sleeping, try to kiss us, and steal our private items. Some fans even hired taxis to collide into our cars to see us in person.”

“Our lives began to fall apart as we would be groped, touched, and defiled every moment of the day. We, as humans, should at least be able to ask for a bare minimum standard of living, but instead we are forced to live in indescribable pain”.

Kim Jaejoong stated “We want to give an apology for our past behavior. We are sorry that we caused our fans to worry about us and that we forced them to share our pain.”

He followed by saying “In the future we will think about those who love us whenever we are facing situations which are mentally difficult and will try to act more responsibly. Because of those who support us through the pain we go through, we will try not to break down again.” He then finished with “For those fans who always cherish and support us on stage, I will do my best”

Sources: JYJ3
Newsen via Nate
Article translated by PrinceJJ.com

This was pretty much how I thought the situation to be. Instead of man vs woman, look at this as a person vs a stalker...an 8-year long stalker. If this was a female idol hitting female saesangs or a female idol hitting a male saesang, would it be easier to digest? They're not douchebags. They're humans with limits.

Comments

[spread.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised none of them is wearing a bowtie..

[kirabana.livejournal.com]

why would they be wearing bowties?

[minecrafts.livejournal.com]

what i really want to know is... is it spelled sasaeng or saesang?

[fingertrees.livejournal.com]

sasaeng

[melluransa.livejournal.com]

And so when they did hit and cuss out the saesangs, the saesangs probably enjoyed it because they were being acknowledged and remembered. It's a vicious cycle that causes hurt for both sides.

[melluransa.livejournal.com]

*Sasaeng. Them vowels...

[soft-daisy.livejournal.com]

tbh, i'm surprised and glad that they addressed it so quickly and in chile too. i thought they would wait until after their concert when they returned to korea

[baka-tenshi.livejournal.com]

i'm actually surprised they did it all.

[saintedmal.livejournal.com]

I'm still not sure how to feel about this whole thing. :/

Wishing for the sasaeng situation to magically disappear is asking for the impossible. I can only hope that JYJ shows more restrain and control over their actions.

[rocketjenny.livejournal.com]

although I do not approve of violence, I hope they learn to control their actions and speak up instead of it blowing up like this did.

[walkin-siesta.livejournal.com]

keeping it in the dark? they talked about these fans on tv interviews even way back from 2006. these stalkers are common knowledge, just that the legal system or whatever in korea makes it so nobody can do anything about them,not even the police since they were mostly minors

[silveretude.livejournal.com]

Still finding this entire situation incredibly sad... they did the right thing by stepping up and being open and honest about their experiences, as well as admitting culpability and fault.

It's not, however, a solution to the overriding problem... so... yeah.

:(

[fuckinmagnets.livejournal.com]

wow, wtf at your last sentence

[baka-tenshi.livejournal.com]

Kim Jaejoong stated “We want to give an apology for our past behavior. We are sorry that we caused our fans to worry about us and that we forced them to share our pain.”

He followed by saying “In the future we will think about those who love us whenever we are facing situations which are mentally difficult and will try to act more responsibly. Because of those who support us through the pain we go through, we will try not to break down again.” He then finished with “For those fans who always cherish and support us on stage, I will do my best”

this reads extremely bitter to me.

[minecrafts.livejournal.com]

this. all i could see was "yeah, next time we're suffering like you can't even imagine we'll just keep it to ourselves. fuck you guys."

[miliy96.livejournal.com]

I agree with you op

[chunonew-rx.livejournal.com]

drama aside

the boys looks flawless in the pics~~
I'm super excited they are en Chile and will be going to Peru

they should stay in whatever latin country they want
we will treat them well and feed them~~
and maybe they will find some girlfriends (me including)~~

[sukumeru.livejournal.com]

mte btw i love your icon sigh

[episkia.livejournal.com]

i'm impressed they talked about this, and so quickly too

i pity them

[yuukihitohira.livejournal.com]

This trans is much better and clearer than the Soompi trans.

Anyway, I'm proud that they apologized and the way that they apologized. While they could have just let their company release a written statement, I admire the fact that they talked about this and acknowledged their wrong doings and apologized for it in person and in public the day before a pretty important concert for them.

Of course, this apology doesn't take back anything that they have done, nor will it ever. What's done is done and there's nothing that can change that. But it's nice to see them not just brush off the whole issue (like most people assumed they would) and face it head on and admit to what they did as they should. From here, I can only hope that they truly mean the words that Jaejoong said and if they need help dealing with stress or anger, that they get it. I also wish that the law passed about sasaengs would go into effect sooner than next year, but at least the Korean government is aware and beginning to fix this issue with invasion of privacy(among other terrible things).

[earthequality.livejournal.com]

Oh, so KG is trying to pass laws and such? That's a bit better than expected, but they're really tricky and I would hope that all idol companies will file reports.

Pm agree with your whole comment.

[earthequality.livejournal.com]

we will try not to break down again.

They're allowed to have their limits, so this doesn't put me at ease. I just don't condone resolving violence with violence, either side, because it makes it a never-ending cycle instead of a real solution. By saying or trying not to break down again, that's putting yourself at risk for a real collapse or even worse. All these events are recurring and saesang culture truly needs to be addressed. A good portion of them are minors. They could start with the private cabs, by fining them for soliciting minors and aiding in invasion of privacy? Little by little. It's just sad all around.

[soft-daisy.livejournal.com]

mte. jaejoong's apology made me think they feel helpless about the situation but they still have to apologize. the sasaeng culture definitely needs to be addressed. i don't want to have them breaking down eventually or see a cycle of these scandals whether with them or other celebrities

[kyupudding.livejournal.com]

It sickens me to see abusers getting so much love and understanding tbh.

[lysblack.livejournal.com]

omfg this whole situation is too insane for me.

[bumie.livejournal.com]

for me too

[rinn1e.livejournal.com]

Sucks to be you JYJ, KJJ. Now if you're violated in public, you're not allowed to react, but just smile, but you're a man, you can take a few mentally abused situations. Fucked. Fucked up world.

[sukumeru.livejournal.com]

true. the "misogynist" comments on this whole issue upset me greatly.

[edanz-castle.livejournal.com]

This situation is bitter sweet. But this is the price that famous people have to pay.

[bloodyhanie.livejournal.com]

that was quick. I glad but sad at the same time tho. glad that they quickly addressed the matters but sad because i know those sasaeng wont magically disappear. so, when those sasaeng gonna apologies to them???

[fingertrees.livejournal.com]

they would never. They'd probably just continue knowing that these guys won't do anything to harm them anymore.

[walkin-siesta.livejournal.com]

" we will try not to break down again"
if only people realize that these idols are human with flaws and limits instead of putting them on a pedestal.. but i guess that's why they're called 'idols'

i kind of agree with op tho, if the genders are reversed, most of the comments would be more along the lines of 'you go girl!show 'em who's da boss!'

[simplyobessed.livejournal.com]

ikr...smh...

[falling-empress.livejournal.com]

Kim Jaejoong stated “We want to give an apology for our past behavior. We are sorry that we caused our fans to worry about us and that we forced them to share our pain.”

I'm still looking for an acknowledgement that he hit multiple women and cussed at them. This is not a real apology. "Sorry you worried about us lol." Bitch plz.

[cast-no-shadow0.livejournal.com]

that's all I saw too. It reminds me of one of those back-handed apologies, "I'm sorry you were upset by my actions" instead of "I'm sorry for what I did, it is my fault." It's not actually addressing the issue. But I guess that's what their fans are doing too, instead of addressing the violence, turning it back around to why saesangs deserve to be hit.

And fans keep saying the saesangs are crazy, and I don't think any disagrees with that. In fact, I believe they are mentally ill. So basically fans are justifying repeated abuse of mentally ill people as "self-defense." I've actually seen someone on Omona (and I'm sure there are more) say that "crazy" people deserve to be beaten. It's funny how people get so up in arms about abuse toward their oppas, but then go ahead and advocate abuse (often quite violent) against others. Two wrongs don't make a right, but no one seems to agree in Omona.

[soft-daisy.livejournal.com]

not really. just bitter to have to apologize and accept that they will continue to be harassed in their own homes, groped, and experience more identity theft and stolen phone numbers. neither side is right, but this is reality.

[spread.livejournal.com]

Do these infamous saesang folk fall into the fans category (hardcore/extreme level fans), or are they classified as otherwise?
I'm not seeing where they apologized to the people they attacked.
Just stating what those said people have done and continue to do.
I dunno, maybe I glanced over it or I'm reading it wrong..

P.S.
I'm not implying that either side is right or 'more wrong' than the other, because that's not for me to say.

[sukumeru.livejournal.com]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QXbyYQjPbfXtdcRF4Uh9k-2wx_VUHzfbjV80ZnwsRHg/edit