TVXQ group activities in Japan to cease

SEOUL: Korean pop quintet TVXQ, or Tohoshinki, currently represented by music giant AVEX Entertainment in Japan, will cease activities as a band there, said a statement on AVEX's official site on Saturday. "Tohoshinki's group activities will cease. However, the five band members are talented young people so our firm will do everything it can to support their individual endeavors," said Avex in its statement. The statement did not mention when exactly the band's activities in Japan will stop. This announcement comes amidst an ongoing contract dispute between group members Xiah, Micky, Hero and the management firm representing them in Korea, SM Entertainment, that has persisted since July last year. The trio claimed they were being shortchanged by SM Entertainment, which bound them to a 13-year exclusive contract that they argued, was a de-facto lifetime contract that severely restricted their career choices. Korean courts sided with the trio but apparently, the dispute has not been resolved and instead had some long-term implications. The group has not appeared together to promote their albums in Korea since July last year. The group had continued to play together at events in Japan until last December but has never gone out to promote their album as a band since then. All five members are currently working on solo projects perhaps in preparation for their eventual split. TVXQ officially debuted in July 2004 and has gone on to release numerous hit albums and singles in Japan and Korea, such as "Toki O Tomete" that sold 195,000 copies in the first week of it's Japanese release and "Mirotic", which sold 500,000 copies in Korea despite generally sluggish sales in the Korean music industry at the time.