In an online community, ILLIT fans defended the group after absurd claims that they sniped at NewJeans.

On May 13, an Instiz post sparked a heated debate among K-pop fans after the OP brought back ILLIT's variety show "I'LL (SHOW) IT" uploaded on the M2 YouTube channel on March 25.

In particular, the netter highlighted a certain part when the quintet had a food world cup. In this game, two dishes were flashed on the screen and they had to choose one that they would save and eliminate.

Just then, galbijjim (braised beef short-ribs) vs. kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) appeared and immediately, four out of five excluding Yunah chose the latter.

While it was a matter of preference, this part sparked unnecessary controversy among K-netizens after the M2 channel added the subtitle, "Kalguksu is a trend."

When this was shared on the online community without much context, some internet users immediately assumed that this was some sort of a "diss" to NewJeans, especially Minji, who was embroiled in a Kalguksu controversy before.

ALSO READ: Can ILLIT & LE SSERAFIM Recover Their Image? K-Netz Discuss Groups' Future

• "Since when did Kalguksu become a trend? I think they were aiming at them a hundred percent."
• "But it’s amazing that they chose Kalguksu haha. Isn’t it a default galbijjim?"
• "How can it be that kalguksu is the trend? Kalguksu is suddenly the trend? suddenly?"

As a brief context, Minji earlier in December 2022 revealed that she hadn't tried Kalguksu yet, and Koreans tilted their heads as it was a common food in the country.

Since then, she was accused of faking her "classy" concept and "avoiding" commoner food.

Going back to ILLIT's issue, when the clip circulated among K-Netz, fans of the group immediately called out the OP and M2 for its malicious subtitle and defended the five members.

Some of the comments are:

• "The members just chose their favorite food, but the subtitles are a bit weird. The members just naturally chose their favorite food."
• "This seems a bit far-fetched."
• "No, it's because the members chose a lot of kalguksu."
• "That's just Yunah talking about braised ribs and the rest of the kids talking about kalguksu, so it's like kalguksu is the trend among the kids. I watched the video."
• "It's just that many of the members chose kalguksu, so kalguksu is the most popular dish (within ILLIT). I think this is what the subtitle means."

Amid this debate, the issue between the two girl groups also intensified amid Min Hee Jin's accusation that HYBE debuted ILLIT after copying the NewJeans concept.

As a result, the tension between their respective fandoms was also rising, as they tried to protect each of their favorite groups.

READ MORE: Did ILLIT 'Copy' NewJeans 'Ditto' Outfits? K-Netz Discuss

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Written by Eunice Dela Cruz