At the third trial of a 2.5 billion won (about $1.9 million) civil lawsuit filed by BELIFT LAB against former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin, ILLIT's legal representative strongly denied the accusation that the girl group copied NewJeans' style.
The trial took place at the Seoul Western District Court on July 18. The lawyer of the group ILLIT presented a series of documents showing that many visual techniques and concept ideas of NewJeans actually appeared in GFriend's products 5-6 years ago. These are video format conversion from HD 16:9 to low-quality 4:00, images of a girl running across a bridge, student uniforms, or group photos with dreamy white tones.
ILLIT also stated that factors such as taking photos at Eiffel Towers, using outdoor screens at COEX or posing for groups are not exclusive to any group. If Ms. Mins criteria were applied, even NewJeans could be considered a copy of GFriend, the ILLIT representative emphasized.
The tension between Min Hee Jin and HYBE began in April 2023 when she internally accused HYBE of being biased towards LE SSERAFIM, slowing down NewJeans' promotional progress and criticizing ILLIT for "blatantly imitating" NewJeans. SOURCE MUSIC later sued Min for defamation, while BELIFT LAB - ILLIT's management company filed a separate lawsuit worth 2 billion won.
According to AllKpop, this trial continues to spark controversy in the K-pop industry about the line between creativity, influence and plagiarism. Although there is no final verdict, the legal battle between HYBE's subsidiaries continues to heat up Korean public opinion.
