Plagiarism Lawsuit Over NewJeans and ILLIT to Begin in January

The lawsuit will begin in January next year over alleged plagiarism of the group NewJeans.

The first hearing of a damage suit filed by agency BELIFT LAB against Min Hee-jin, former CEO of Ador, will be held at the Seoul Western District Court on January 10 next year.

At a press conference in April to refute HYBE's alleged embezzlement of management control, former CEO Min claimed that Bilib's new girl group ILLIT copied NewJeans. Former CEO Min said "ILLIT is copying New Jeans in all areas, including hair, makeup, costumes, choreography, and photo videos. Whose good thing is this. This ruins ILLIT, too," he said, describing ILLIT as 'Aryu'.



BELIFT LAB filed a 2 billion won damages lawsuit against former CEO Min in June, claiming that ILLIT did not plagiarize NewJeans. BELIFT LAB said "ILLIT's branding strategy and concept were finalized and shared internally on July 21, 2023. The informant sent the so-called plan after that, on August 28, 2023, it cannot affect the concept of ILLIT."

However, Min's side also disclosed the information of an employee inside HYBE, saying, 'ILLIT plagiarized NewJeans' during the interrogation period of HYBE's injunction, which was conducted by the 50th Division of Civil Agreement (senior judge Kim Sang-hoon).