[Trans] Warning about Malicious Rumours regarding Crebeau

Spanish Translation (traducción en español) of this article is available HERE, courtesy of Jaeden Forums.

Preface: Dear readers, The JYJ Files was not created to bandy empty words with antis and rumourmongers. As our mission statement in the “About” section indicates, we exist to provide food-for-thought for fans of the original Dong Bang Shin Ki and JYJ as well as a space for discussion on issues involving the members of JYJ or the original Dong Bang Shin Ki. We do not intend to become a reactionary party to the latest products of the Hotel Girls’ rumour factory. We would rather use that time and Internet space to actively support the members of JYJ or encourage the larger original Dong Bang Shin Ki community to step out of its K pop comfort zone. For this reason, until now, we avoided directly answering to these rumours. However, as time passed, we realised that we were doing a grave disservice to our readers. It is no secret in the Korean and Japanese fandom that the Hotel Girls and their supporters are losing ground in both countries and would be eager to gain what they lost in the international fandom. In this environment, it would be irresponsible of The JYJ Files to leave our readers completely in the dark. We are still committed to addressing all issues on our terms (ie, not becoming a string of posts that RE: the latest distortions from antis), and so we will provide an article (or few) in the future on the cosmetics rumours in a form appropriate to the spirit of this blog. Until then, here is some important background information on the veracity of claims related to Crebeau cosmetics.

Warning about Malicious Rumours regarding Crebeau

For the past year or so, all sorts of claims regarding the cosmetics brand ‘Crebeau’ have been spreading around the Internet through various portal sites, blogs, Telzone; wanting to clear up doubts and uncover the truth I went directly to Crebeau’s main office on May 5 [2010].

Since I’m a fan of Yunho, Changmin as well as a fan of all five members, I printed out all the documents related to the cosmetics business endorsed by all sides and inquired [the head office] thoroughly on all points of concern, which [the staff] kindly answered.

1. Portrait rights (SM never pressed charges against Crebeau over the issue of portrait rights)
2. Base/raw materials……(http://cfile249.uf.daum.net/image/173AFB274BD9A8D94D6DC6)

[Translator’s note: clicking on the link will take you to a screenshot of the reply that was given to a fan who asked the Korean Food and Drug Administration about the legality of the use of sheep placenta in cosmetics. The reply was: it is not illegal except for in 34 countries, of which Korea, Japan and China are not included. The listed companies in English are doing similar animal testing with approval. The fan ends with a sarcastic remark about the Hotel Girls’ sudden interest in animal rights]

1. Products for tourists (they were put together without Crebeau’s direct involvement by Japanese tourist agencies who bought Crebeau products from various outlets; anyone who reads even a little Japanese can read clearly the tourist agencies’ names)
2. The Hallyu department store (The Crebeau billboard/advert banner is there because the Japanese branch of Crebeau paid the advertisement fee to the Hallyu department store. Because it’s a Hallyu/Korean Wave café it obviously has pictures of Dong Bang Shin Ki (there are photos of other Korean celebrities there too) and it sells other cosmetics brands beside Crebeau).

The three members of Dong Bang Shin Ki have stated many times that this incident [T/N: ie, the lawsuit] has nothing to do with the cosmetics business, and for about a year we believed that the cosmetics rumours would figure themselves out, that they would die down when the truth was revealed, and so we carried on as usual, requesting all posts with such rumours be erased and leaving replies in the comments section that cleared up any misunderstanding regarding the cosmetics business; however, [the Hotel Girls] accused us of bias and furthering the agenda of the cosmetics company and, insisting that their claims were not rumours, they worked all the harder to disseminate even more malicious rumours.

If you [Hotel Girls] truly have suspicions of the cosmetics, if you truly think there are problems with the cosmetics, isn’t it simple common sense to at least call or visit the cosmetics store and ask about the aspects with which you have problems and then, upon verifying the truth like this, posting the information on the Internet?

And yet, not one of you has called or visited or so much as got in touch [with Crebeau], but instead you have attacked by posting out-of-context or deliberately cropped photos provided by anti-fans as well as your subjective and flawed interpretation of documents. The cosmetics company, which has no relation to the Dong Bang Shin Ki litigation, has become the scapegoat for Dong Bang Shin Ki’s breakup, no thanks to [the Hotel Girls’s] unspeakable accusations of multi-level practices and illegal sheep placenta that have gravely damaged the company and its image.

Have you ever thought of the position of the company—its affiliated partners, its hundreds of employees and their families, the average person who engaged in business with the company even just once?

I wonder if you have the capacity to fathom the amount of damages such people would have incurred.

Have you ever even thought how much time and effort; blood, sweat and tears it takes to establish and run a single company?

Just for the sake of you protecting the celebrity you like.

You have publicly defamed a company that was completely unrelated to the ‘Dong Bang Shin Ki case’ and has not yet been officially charged, for which you must take responsibility.

The frog you throw at the rock in carelessness will die.

I strongly encourage you to reflect upon/feel remorse for the vicious and intentionally misinterpreted [rumours] you have spread without proper verification.

If, even after seeing this post, you [Hotel Girls] do not desist in making up and spreading vicious rumours, you will have to inevitably take even bigger responsibility for your actions.

A scan of the official [police] complaint

I urge you to put your hand on your heart and think thoroughly through what you are doing. You yourselves will know…whether or not you’re among the many people listed in the complaint.

What follows is one example out of the many apologies issued by the Hotel Girls in the Daum TVXQ Telzone forum upon being reported to the Korean Police (from June 12, 2010):

I apologise to all personnel related to Crebeau for the pubic criticism brought about by my actions.

I sincerely apologise for all the immeasurable damages my careless posts have caused.

I was rash.

I think my excessive eagerness to show my affection for Dong Bang Shin Ki has led me to act in such immature ways.

Now that I think about it I wrote such things in an agitated and thoughtless state of mind. Because I was so agitated, I only thought to push all the blame on to one side.

I was especially struck by CEO Kang’s kindness/benevolence when I met him in real life, to the extent that I felt sorry for his troubles.

He has suffered so many damages, but instead he worried for me as if he didn’t know that he himself existed.

I also apologise for the grief I’ve caused to his representatives and personnel.

_____________

This is a postscript.

I went to visit the cosmetics company today…

It was a lot smaller than I expected it to be, with the mood of a small-and-medium-enterprise. I went with a friend; [the staff] were very kind to my friend and I went into the office where I shared and heard many stories.

Firstly, with regards to the Crebeau store in the Shino-okubo department store…Shino-okubo Department Store is a Korean Wave-themed department store that put up the Crebeau billboard merely for advertising purposes; it appears we were too eager in misunderstanding the motivation behind this. It was probably our fault for making people think that Crebeau was abusing Dong Bang Shin Ki’s image when in fact it was Shino-okubo’s marketing strategy.

Secondly, about the relationship between the cosmetics company and ChunJaeSu…

While the company did receive and continues to receive investments from the three, because of the consequences of our posts, the company has lost the entire amount that ChunJaeSu invested. Also, it appears to be true that it is [ChunJaeSu’s] family members rather than the three members themselves who are intimately involved in the cosmetics business.

Lastly, I would like to talk about the multi-level company claim.

We hadn’t heard directly from anyone that it was multi-level, so we might have been too hasty in our judgment. Under the nervousness and stress of the current situation where it looks like Dong Bang Shin Ki might disband, it appears we crossed the line in dragging in the cosmetics business, an unrelated party to the dispute, through speculations and distortions. When I see the two who say our writings caused them heartache, I can’t help but feel sorry. Although we say ‘multi-level, multi-level’ in truth we have no definitive proof, and for that we have brought upon this company a huge loss. In a day, they lost 6 billion won; for that I am sorry.

So everyone, please don’t further the agenda of the antis but rather condone posts that praise or encourage the cosmetics business, and if you can’t do even that then at least refrain from referring to [the cosmetics company] at all.

Translator’s Commentary:

More apologies from the Hotel Girls regarding the defamation of Crebeau cosmetics can be viewed here.

As you can see, the majority of the rumours surrounding JYJ’s involvement in the Crebeau cosmetics business was systematically debunked by Korean DBSK fans over the course of the past year and a half. What remains of the discourse is strung together by faulty correlations, fabricated evidence and, as the writer above revealed, cropped and edited photos and video clips. Ultimately, the Korean police had to be contacted. Consequently many of the Hotel Girls themselves recanted.

At this point, the remainder of the Hotel Girls will still pull out the one weapon they have left to keep the cosmetics rumour-mill spinning, and that is the supposed “fact” that JYJ own 62.5% of the shares of Crebeau. In the aftermath of the Korean Police getting involved and the Hotel Girls apologising in droves, the Korean Public Attorney opened an investigation. Its findings and position is summarised in this key article: http://news.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/06/17/2010061702148.html

I shall translate the key part below:

17 일 SM 측 변호인인 법무법인 지평지성에 따르면 검찰은 지난달 31일 SM을 상대로 명예훼손과 업무방해 혐의로 고소한 위샵플러스의 고소건을 불기소 결정했다. 이 관계자는 “검찰 조사 결과 화장품업체의 지분 중 62.5%가 동방신기 3인의 멤버와 가족들의 명의로 있는 등 사업에 관여한 만큼 화장품 사업이 전속계약 분쟁을 일으킨 주요한 원인 중 하나라고 파악했다”고 말했다.

On June 17, 2010, SM’s legal representative reported that on the 31^st of last month the Korean public attorney decided to not pursue the charges of defamation and obstruction of business filed by Wishop Plus against SM [Entertainment]. According to [SM’s] lawyer, “The results of the public attorney’s investigation revealed that 62.5% of the shares of the cosmetics enterprise is owned by the three members of Dong Bang Shin Ki and their family members; it has been determined that [the three members’] involvement in the cosmetics business is an important cause of the conflict over their exclusive contract.”

Firstly, notice that it is not the public attorney himself that attests that JYJ’s shares in the cosmetics business amounts to 62.5% but SM’s lawyer. In fact, nowhere in this rather short article is the public attorney quoted. The conclusion that the cosmetics business is a cause for the lawsuit is that of SM’s lawyer and SM’s lawyer alone at this point.

Secondly, the article is unclear on how much each individual member of JYJ owns in Crebeau’s shares. Notice that it says 62.5% of shares is owned by “the three members of Dong Bang Shin Ki and their family members.” This appears to be saying that the combined amount of shares owned by Jaejoong and Yoochun and Junsu and “family members” (and who knows how many they are. Also, is it immediate family? Extended? Immediate and extended?) is 62.5%. It is unclear how much of that each individual member owns. It could be anywhere between .01% and 62%. Judging by the Hotel Girl’s apology translated above, it is not unreasonable to think that the JYJ’s family members were more involved than JYJ themselves.

Also, a percentage means nothing if one lacks the corresponding absolute value. The only figure given in the article is the 62.5 in %. This could correspond to anything above or below 100 million won in actual amount. And given that Crebeau appears to be by all accounts a small to medium-sized business and that the 62.5% is owned by multiple “family” parties, not just the members of JYJ, the claim made by the CEO of the company that the members of JYJ own around 1/10^th of the enterprise is not incompatible with the cited 62.5% in shares.

Source

Translated by: Jimmie of TheJYJFiles

Shared by: TheJYJFiles

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