Foreign fans of K-pop group JYJ said on Tuesday that they submitted a petition on Monday to the Seoul Central District Court and the Fair Trade Commission for the recognition and protection of the boy-band’s legal and human rights.

The petition urges prompt action by the South Korean government and justice system to “concretely block the illegal interferences and anti-trust activities of SM Entertainment and their affiliates towards JYJ’s entertainment activities.”

JYJ is a pop group formed by three former TVXQ members who used to be under the SM roof.

“Although the Korean court has twice affirmed JYJ’s right to engage in entertainment activities without interference, we have witnessed SM and its co-conspirators violate these legal rights openly and repeatedly,” said Jimmie Kim, a representative of the International Consumers of the Korean Wave and Supporters of JYJ.

A total of 86,418 fans from around the world signed the petition from Feb. 2 to Feb. 25 and translated it into 10 different languages ― Japanese, Chinese (both Cantonese and Mandarin), French, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Vietnamese, Thai and Bahasa Indonesian.

An official from the Fair Trade Commission, however, told The Korea Herald that it was difficult to confirm if such a petition had been submitted.

By Park Min-young (claire@heraldcorp.com)