Some Korean netizens have agreed with Min Hee Jin's claims that NewJeans' formula was being copied.
Read more about what happened.
K-Netz Agree To Min Hee Jin's Claims Of NewJeans' Formula Being Copied
On April 26, netizens established an online community titled, "Min Hee Jin Said That ILLIT Imitated NewJeans' Formula."
The author then uploaded a segment from the press conference, where Min Hee Jin admitted that the issue was the doing of HYBE and not ILLIT.
The ADOR CEO clarified that she wasn't being critical of ILLIT, but instead, she pointed out that this was a problem created between grown-ups.
Min Hee Jin then discussed that anyone could have a plain styling. However, the CEO claimed that the formula of NewJeans was copied too much, and explained that the reason for having a multi-label system was to showcase diversity in each existing group.
The ADOR CEO then elaborated her reason for disliking the "copying," saying that if HYBE can duplicate NewJeans, this would eventually cause a domino effect of K-pop groups copying one another. Min Hee Jin established that her criticism was necessary for the sake of the K-pop industry's authenticity and growth.
"I want to clarify that I'm not criticizing ILLIT, because they did nothing wrong. The ongoing problem was made between adults, and I also brought up the topic of plagiarism because of this. Surely, anyone can have long hair.
However, our formula was copied too much, and the reason I'm sad about this was because I asked, then what's the point of having a multi-label company? If this keeps up, then just manage the agency like YG or SM.
Multi-labels exist to generate each group's individuality. I hate this because if a company like HYBE can just easily copy us, then smaller agencies will also plan to copy NewJeans, since they assume other companies can excel by copying us.
I want to clarify that this criticism is needed so the industry can keep going."
In the comments section, Korean netizens agreed with Min Hee Jin's plagiarism claims and stated how similar ILLIT's concept was to NewJeans.
Read their comments below:
- "What she's saying is right, though. They are exact copies of each other."
- "It's really obvious that everyone will be reminded of NewJeans. Min Hee Jin went all out in the conference because they attempted to copy her creation."
- "People kept saying the groups looked similar, but most of them decided to let it go because both are from HYBE Labels."
- "But they copied NewJeans lol."
- "She's right about this, they were just the second version of NewJeans."
- "To be honest, it's foul for a company to debut a copy group with a copied concept in just two years after the debut of the original."
In other news, netizens were amused by Min Hee Jin's lawyers, who went viral across social media for appearing "stressed" during the conference.
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments below!
Read KpopStarz for more K-pop news.
Read also: Min Hee Jin's Lawyers Trend For Appearing 'Stressed' At Press Conference: 'They Look So Done'
