Controversies

Cyanoacrylate drink incident

While the group was filming a variety show on October 14, 2006, U-Know was rushed to the hospital after drinking a beverage, which was laced with super glue, given to him by an anti-fan. His manager quickly instructed him to vomit right after. The anti-fan turned herself in the next day. The female suspect, whose surname is Ko, was apprehended on October 16, was a member of an anti-TVXQ website for over two years. Ko wrote a letter to U-Know:

“ To, Jung Yunho

You watch your mouth!! Ever since the debut you were so stuck up. You won't last after a couple years... You would be forever seen as some teen idol not real singer. Do you know your limit? Only little kids like you!... I really want to kill you. ”

There were many unanswered questions, such as why U-know drank from the open container, and how the culprit managed to enter the building of the broadcasting station U-Know called the police and requested that they not charge Ko because he has a little sister was near her age.

Custody battle over Hero JaeJoong

On November 21, 2006, a man by the last name of Han filed a lawsuit against Hero's current legal guardians. Han claimed that he was the biological father of Hero, and thus wanted parental rights.

Han cited the reason for the lawsuit against Hero's legal guardians as "for not going through the proper procedures before registering [Hero] in [the legal guardians'] custody." He divorced Hero's biological mother in late 1980s, and gave up his custody over his child, leaving him under Mrs. Han's custody. However, he had found out some years ago Hero had been raised by a third party, not his biological mother. A DNA test was to be performed in order to prove validity of Han's claim. Many legal consultants comment that since the adoption had taken place correctly according to the corresponding law, no legal change will be involved regardless of the outcome.

The first hearing was to be held in Kongju, Hero's hometown on November 29, 2006. The fans of TVXQ were generally appalled by this news, questioning why Han did not privately contact Hero regarding this and why he did not keep in touch with his son before he rose to fame.

On November 22, Han dropped the charges against Hero's legal guardians. Han said that he originally intended to resolve his biological son's military duty conflicts after being informed of dual citizenship by Ministry of Military Affairs, which involved verifying the fact that he is the biological father. He did not expect his intention to lead to such a scandal, and states that he was scarred by speculations that he wanted to take advantage of Hero's fame.

In reaction to the matter, Hero uploaded a journal entry on his official fan club website, and said that he was informed of the existence of separate biological parents by his mother two or three years ago, and it had been quite a shock to him. With his current mother's support, his biological mother has been able to keep in touch with him, and to meet occasionally, but whereabouts of his father had been unknown.

He vigorously expressed his will to live by the name of "Kim Jaejoong," not by his birth name Han Jaejoon (한재준), and promised to be loyal to all four of his parents. He also said he did not want his family history exposed to the public due to this incident.

Mirotic

In November 2008, the Commission of Youth Protection ruled that Mirotic, was detrimental to youths and declared that the lyrics were provocative and overly sexual. As a result, the album was labeled with stickers indicating that it was unsuitable for people under 19 years old and any performances of the song would have to be broadcast after 10 PM. In response to the ruling, SM Entertainment agreed to make a clean version but also had filed an injunction to overrule the commission's decision

“ We will make a clean version in accordance with the commission’s administrative order, but since we cannot fully accept the ruling, we plan to make a provisional disposition with the relevant court to nullify the administrative order. ”

After the Commission of Youth Protection released their statement regarding the ban on the album, SM Entertainment said,
“ Even before when the order had been put against Mirotic, we have clearly negotiated and tried to explain the real meaning and explanation of the lyrics, but even after this the results came out unexpectedly and we are bewildered as of this moment... the Jumun-Mirotic's lyrical meaning is entirely different and miles away from the erotic or sexual that the association is making it to be. ”

TVXQ performed the clean version at the 23rd Annual Golden Disk Awards. The lyrics were changed from "I got you" to "I chose you" and "I got you under my skin" to "I got you under my sky."