The group released their English-language global debut album under Warner Music Asia, The Beginning, on October 12, with the Kanye West-produced single "Ayyy Girl" as lead track.

[12][13] JYJ promoted the new album via a worldwide showcase tour throughout October and November with dates in South Korea, Southeast Asia and the United States.

[20] In the spring of 2011, JYJ launched their first worldwide tour as a group with concerts held in Thailand, Taiwan, China, Canada, and the United States.

[citation needed] JYJ extended their world tour by adding performance dates in Barcelona, Spain on October 29 and in Berlin, Germany on November 6.

It was a documentary film featuring their daily lives and dreams, and was screened for 4 days at Lotte Cinema‘s 17 major chain theatres across the country, drawing 24,000 fans.

The "2012 JYJ Membership Week" was put together specifically as a gift for their fans, and fully funded by the members themselves in spite of numerous sponsorship offers.

It was held for 4 days— from June 28 to July 1—at SETEC (Seoul Trade Exhibition & Conventions) at Hak Yeo Ul station and cost an estimated KRW 3.7 billion.

[31] At the same time C-JeS Entertainment announced that the band would be able to perform at Tokyo Dome in Japan after a four-year hiatus due to their lawsuit with Avex Group.

[35] On April 23, 2019, C-JeS Entertainment ended Yoochun's contract with the company after reports that he had tested positive for drugs, and they announced that he would retire from the industry.

[40][41] In mid-2009, Jaejoong, Yoochun and Junsu (then-members of group TVXQ) filed a lawsuit against SM Entertainment, arguing that the 13-year length and structure of their exclusive contracts as well as the terms of profit distribution were unilaterally and unfairly disadvantageous towards the artists and should be invalidated.

On February 17, 2011, the Seoul Central District Court dismissed SM Entertainment's injunction against the three members, filed in April 2010 for damage compensation.

[43] In September 2012, the final decision on the case was postponed indefinitely by Seoul Central District Court for mediation under the justice department.

[44] On November 28, 2012, during a voluntary arbitration at the Seoul Central District Court, SM Entertainment and JYJ reached a mutual agreement to terminate all contracts between the two parties and not to interfere with each other's activities in the future.

[45][46][47] On January 18, 2013, Tokyo District Court ruled against Avex in their claims of an exclusive contract in the management of JYJ in Japan and ordered Avex to pay 660 million yen as damages to JYJ’s Korean management company C-JeS Entertainment and 1 million yen as damages to the representative of C-JeS for defamation charges.

[52] Immediately after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, JYJ donated ₩600,000,000 to World Vision Japan fulfilling the organization's entire fundraising goal.

In addition, JYJ held charity concerts for 80,000 fans on October 15 and 16, 2011 at the Hitachi Kaihin Park in Ibaraki, a region badly damaged by the natural disasters.

[62] JYJ performed at the first annual Asian Dream Cup organized by ex-Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-sung's JS Foundation on June 15 at a stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

JYJ later participated in the one-day soccer clinic with young Vietnamese athletes and 15 other star Korean and Japanese footballers.

[65][66] In November 2011, they were selected as outreach ambassadors for the Korean Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology in their efforts at improving online youth culture and “creating schools without violence and [purposeful/bullying] exclusion”.

[68][69] JYJ, along with labelmates Park Yoohwan and Song Jihyo, recorded Korean, Japanese, and English videos discussing the project to raise awareness and to encourage donations with the goal of planting 20,000 mango trees ahead of Christmas in South Sudan.

[citation needed] In February 2012, JYJ was appointed as honorary ambassadors for the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit to be held in Seoul on March 26 and 27.