JYJ Dropped From Incheon Games

A group of fans in South Korea has organized a petition to demand that the Olympic Council of Asia conduct an investigation into the actions of the organizing committee for the Incheon Asian Games, which takes place Sept. 19 to Oct. 4.

Photo: LG Electronics

The fans want to know why the boy band JYJ, which was selected by the organizers as the Games’ “honorary ambassadors,” was not present at the official press conference for the event July 1.

Furthermore, they want to know why JYJ was dropped from the opening and closing ceremonies. Tickets for the opening ceremony cost as much as 1 million won ($900), and many were sold to JYJ fans who expected to see their idols perform live, according to fan site HelloKpop.

Some fans are even coming from outside the country.

The petition, which is being circulated through change.org, has gathered more than 16,500 signatures so far.

There is some speculation that JYJ was dropped after the management agency SM Entertainment took on sponsorship for the Incheon 2014 Asia Paralympic Games.

SM used to be JYJ’s agency before the group left the company in a bitter dispute some years ago.

Moreover, JYJ’s current management agency, C-Jes Entertainment, has told media that it “did not receive any notice about the press conference,” and another boy band, EXO, will be performing at the opening ceremony instead. EXO belongs to SM Entertainment.