JYJ Broadcast Bill Passes

The bill is named after the K-pop boy band JYJ, whose three members quit the group TVXQ in 2010 following a contract dispute with their management company SM Entertainment. Since forming the new trio, JYJ has been unable to secure gigs as a group on television, which remains a very important promotional tool for pop music in South Korea.

It’s been assumed that SM, one of the most powerful agencies in Korean show business, was asking music shows not to hire JYJ, despite the fact that their recordings were selling well and they were as popular as TVXQ in Japan and other Asian countries.

According to the Korea Times, the bill says that broadcasters who ban artists from their shows without providing a good legal reason can be fined up to 2 percent of their revenue or “forced to issue a correction” by the Korea Communications Commission. The Seoul Central Court has already ordered SM Entertainment to pay for several violations involving the blackballing of JYJ, and in 2013 the Korea Fair Trade Commission told SM to “cease meddling” in JYJ’s broadcast appearances.