The legal dispute between Belift Lab and former ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin over allegations of plagiarism involving the K-pop group ILLIT is set to go to trial in January.
The Seoul Western District Court’s 12th Civil Division has scheduled the first hearing for January 10th, 2024, in Belift Lab’s lawsuit against Min Hee Jin. The company is seeking damages of 2 billion KRW (approximately $1.5 million USD).
Belift Lab filed the lawsuit in June, refuting claims that ILLIT plagiarized NewJeans’ concept. The company explained, “ILLIT’s branding strategy and concept were finalized and internally shared on July 21st, 2023. The so-called ‘planning document’ was submitted by the informant later, on August 28th, making it impossible for it to have influenced ILLIT’s concept.”
During a preliminary injunction hearing in the Seoul Central District Court, Min Hee Jin’s side argued that “ILLIT plagiarized NewJeans” and revealed internal whistleblower testimony from HYBE staff. The whistleblower alleged that ILLIT’s creative director had access to NewJeans’ planning documents during the early development stages and that the plans for both groups were identical. The whistleblower added, “I never imagined they would copy it so blatantly.”
Belift Lab also revealed it has filed criminal complaints against Min for defamation and obstruction of business. The company accused her of spreading false information about ILLIT for personal gain, stating, “She has used an innocent rookie group as a scapegoat. Her plagiarism claims, made to serve her own interests, are harming the cultural industry. If we don’t address her selective editing and distortion of information, it will stifle creativity in the industry, and she won’t be exempt from accountability.”
In an emergency press conference on April 25th, Min reiterated her allegations about similarities between NewJeans and ILLIT. She said, “Who benefits from this? It’s only ruining ILLIT. This way, everything becomes NewJeans. I’m not criticizing ILLIT itself—what fault could the kids have? The problem lies with the adults.”
Belift Lab CEO Kim Tae Ho criticized Min’s remarks, stating, “If she truly believes ‘the kids are innocent,’ she should avoid unnecessarily mentioning the artists. Instead, her comments effectively made them a target. It’s no different from directing her supporters to attack ILLIT, and that’s exactly what happened. It was extremely harmful.”
Kim added, “It’s shocking that someone with so much experience in the industry would make such claims. It’s deeply regrettable that this entire situation started with baseless accusations driven by personal motives.”
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