JYJ

JYJ (제이와이제이) is a South Korean pop group formed in 2010 by former TVXQ members Kim Jaejoong, Park Yoochun, and Kim Junsu. Their name is drawn from the first initial of each member. The trio departed TVXQ in 2009 after filing a lawsuit against SM Entertainment over inequitable contract terms, triggering one of the most consequential legal battles in K-pop history and reshaping how agencies draft artist agreements. Their Japanese debut EP, The... (September 2010), opened at number one on the Oricon Albums Chart with 240,000 copies sold in the first week. Warner Music Asia released their English-language album The Beginning that October, produced in part by Kanye West, which moved 500,000 pre-orders before it shipped. Korean full-lengths In Heaven (2011) and Just Us (2014) both debuted atop the Gaon Album Chart. JYJ became the first K-pop act to perform in Chile and Peru, and served as honorary ambassadors for the 2015 World Water Forum in South Korea. High-profile stages included the 2013 South Korean Presidential Inauguration and the 2014 Asian Games opening ceremony in Incheon. Despite a sustained broadcasting blacklist across Korea's major networks, the group's fanbase held firm through a decade of legal dispute and military service. JYJ has been effectively inactive since 2016. Park Yoochun was removed from the group in 2019 following drug-related charges. By 2023, all three members had departed C-JeS Entertainment. As of late 2024, Jaejoong and Junsu perform together as the duo JX under iNKODE and Palmtree Island. Yoochun continues as a solo artist based in Japan.