This non-profit video exclusively features footage intended to convey the stance of ADOR President Min Hee-jin and BELIFT LAB.

Dear artists, fellow creators, and fans, please understand that the use of other artists' videos was inevitable to articulate our stance and dispute the allegations of plagiarism.

September 1, 2023, ILLIT's Formation. March 25, 2024, ILLIT's Debut.

ILLIT entered the US Billboard chart just eight days after their debut. "ILLIT Enters US Billboard Chart Eight Days After Debut" (Source: YouTube - MBC News) ILLIT transcended the barriers of the US music market at once. "ILLIT Instantly Transcended the Billboard Main Chart Entry Barrier" (Source: YouTube - SBS News) ILLIT debuted on March 25th and received numerous congratulations.

They topped various music charts immediately upon their debut. We're grateful for coming in first place.

Although unexpected, the group entered "ILLIT Ranks on US Billboard Global Song Chart Nine Weeks Straight," "ILLIT, First K-pop Girl Group to Enter 'Billboard Hot 100' Upon Debut." both "Billboard Hot 100" and "Billboard 200." "ILLIT's Worldwide Fame: Seven Weeks on the US Billboard Chart," "ILLIT's 'Magnetic' Magnetizes Key US Billboard Charts for Eight Weeks." Their debut album saw unprecedented success.

They deserved a celebration, but instead, they mostly faced criticism. (April 25, 2024, Min Hee-jin's Press Conference) (April 25, 2024, Min Hee-jin's Press Conference) This will disadvantage everyone, including ILLIT.

All I want is fair competition. But why copy us? It's like, why bother trying something new when you can copy what has worked before? "Hello, this is Min Hee-jin. I officially express my stance regarding ILLIT's plagiarism of NewJeans." Soon, we'll see copycat NewJeans everywhere. "ILLIT is copying NewJeans in every way," "Labelled as NewJeans' Derivative." "The Retaliation Was to Cover Up Plagiarism," Insists Min Hee-jin, "Mother" of NewJeans "Min Hee-jin Can't Take 'Copycat NewJeans' ILLIT Anymore: 'I'm just here to serve justice'" "ADOR Exposes 'ILLIT's Plagiarism of NewJeans; HYBE Only Offers Excuses" I didn't blow the whistle for money.

Why would I? I can effortlessly earn 100 billion won. So why in the world would I blow the whistle? For what?

I'm not condemning ILLIT. They're just innocent girls. The grown-ups are the problem. I'm Choe Yun-hyeok, the Vice President of BELIFT LAB.

I'm Kim Tae-ho, the President of BELIFT LAB. I'm the so-called ILLIT's producer. If she sincerely thought that the girls were innocent, she would've avoided bringing them up when it was not called for.

But her doing so is practically encouraging and instigating her supporters and idol fans who agree with her to criticize and badmouth ILLIT. "NewJeans' image was stolen by a derivative at the hands of HYBE and BELIFT LAB." Eventually, she got her wish, "to which ADOR and NewJeans fell victim to." [April 22, 2024, Min Hee-jin's Official Statement] That was... cruel of her.

It's unfair to frame ILLIT's record-breaking achievement as plagiarism and emulation through such witch-hunt-like allegations.

I thought she'd know better, being a veteran in this industry. That was why her statement put me in shock. The fact that this unprecedented incident stemmed from her tall tales all to satisfy her selfish desires makes it very difficult to forgive her.

[March 25, 2024, ILLIT's Debut] [April 3, 2024, An Email That Started It All] April 3, 2024, An Email That Started It All.

Look at the title, “Infringement Issue of NewJeans' Brand." And the parents of NewJeans members were all looped in.

She insists that from our marketing to the way ILLIT makes their appearances, the production processes, and even the transcription of credits, we completely copied NewJeans.

Here you can see four files attached that allegedly insist ILLIT's infringement of NewJeans' brand.

We've reviewed the details and most were captured images from posts criticizing their concept photo image, long straight hairdo, and composition for resembling NewJeans.

on social media, YouTube, and fan communities. Huh? Aren't they NewJeans? “New Copycat Twin Concept of NewJeans" (Source: YouTube Fact Kim).

The more I look at them, the closer they resemble NewJeans. “New Copycat Twin Concept of NewJeans." Upon ILLIT's photo release (Source: YouTube GTV), netizens condemned the group for their twin-like resemblance to NewJeans.

It's common for new groups to emulate their seniors' success with specific concepts. Min Hee-jin, who created NewJeans, saw similarities with her work and started to claim that we copied her.

But unfortunately for her, that isn't the case at all. No investor in their right mind would create a “copycat" artist when billions of Korean won are at stake.

It simply doesn't make sense that our debut plans had a copycat NewJeans in mind.

We replied to her email. She claimed that you never did. It probably means she did not receive the kind of response she wanted.

What was HYBE's response to the whistleblowing on the issue? They paid me back with an abrupt inspection. There was no reply.

Instead, they just barged in. BELIFT LAB President Kim Tae Ho merely sent me a formal three-line reply with no substance instead of a response.

Dear ADOR President Min Hee Jin, your email has been well received. Our company will prepare a response to your claims.

As this is a rather sudden request and not a light matter, we will reply upon a thorough and prudent review, which may take time. Thank you for your understanding in advance.

We are preparing a response to your email last week. As the artists' parents will be looped in, we are preparing our response most carefully, reviewing each step, which has resulted in a delay.

We voice our stance in response to one of your claims we received on April 3rd. You stated that 'SUPER REAL ME' resembles NewJeans musically, visually, and choreography-wise.

While there are criticisms that claim they look similar, there are just as many rebuttals arguing otherwise.

We have never brought up or benchmarked NewJeans in marketing activities, distribution of press releases, production of content, or any other elements.

That's the reply I sent. We suggested providing the data from all cloud services, laptops, emails, and the in-house messenger we use at BELIFT LAB.

And this suggestion was made voluntarily. Upon reviewing them, we found not a single piece of evidence of us bringing up NewJeans or referencing their work.

That was why HYBE could firmly state that none of ADOR's claims were facts. Before responding to the issue raised by your company, we have reviewed all documents created in BELIFT LAB and found no factual evidence of having imitated NewJeans.

There was one relevant phrase, “Not NewJeans.” Our debut group was decided on September 1st. Afterward, we initiated the group brand planning.

and that phrase originated from the “Girl Group Brand Strategy Proposal.” “How do we find our own unique positioning?” Here you'll see, “Not NewJeans.” We actually emphasized “Not NewJeans” in our document: NOT NewJeans, NOT BLACKPINK, NOT IVE.

That's because the three groups' howling success would most likely overshadow our debut group. NOT NewJeans: Teenagers, materialization of grown-ups' dreams. NOT BLACKPINK: Untouchable, perfect celebrities. NOT IVE: Beautiful princesses admired by all.

SUPER (REAL) ME. Not "ideal girls" conjured up by adults, but girls who love and embrace the imperfections of today.

Never in my life did I hear such nonsense that leaves me speechless as her claims that we stole the idea of “long, straight hair.” I've never ever heard of hairstyle being a target of plagiarism.

NewJeans isn't the one and only group with a clean, lively, and pure concept.

Many other groups in the same segment share the same concept. Does that mean we plagiarized all those groups? Is she saying we copied all of them?

You simply cannot make such claims. I'll tell you why ILLIT is problematic. I'm not saying long, straight hair itself is plagiarism.

But the problem is, their production formula resembles ours a little too much. Even if one group follows another group's so-called routine, nobody accuses another of “copying their formula.

” I rather wish there was an existing production formula that would streamline our company's operations.

If there were such things, producers would follow the Beatles' formula or BTS' formula with guaranteed success. I believe she created such a term to make up for the lack of evidence of ILLIT's plagiarism.

NewJeans do not portray themselves as average teenagers.

From what I saw, they were a group popular among the generation that felt nostalgia for the 90s and the Y2K.

In contrast, when we produced ILLIT, we intended to make them more approachable, lovable, and lively. I believe this intention is what sets the two groups' characteristics and goals apart.

Actually, it was at court when we first saw the photos that were used to accuse us of plagiarism.

We once did a pictorial for a fashion magazine called "ELLE," and that's where those photos are from. Everyone knows that "ELLE" makes the decisions, not us.

We didn't decide on the concept either. She used irrelevant photos to claim that our concept photos resemble those of NewJeans.

There is no factual ground for her claim. Our concept photos consist of two versions: the SUPER version and the REAL version.

The SUPER version highlights the goofiness and liveliness of teenage girls exploring what kind of dreams and imaginations they might have.

That's why they're buried in a pool of dolls and play around on animal-shaped clouds. This concept reflected the actual opinions of ILLIT members.

REAL ME portrays the real images of these girls who think of such cute imaginations before their sleep. We tried to bring out their natural look.

Back then, the members were true to themselves like typical teenage girls. They ran excitedly together, ate tasty food, and chattered around.

We tried our best to showcase their candid sides. Their styling concept mainly aimed to inspire teenagers to follow suit. That's why we featured the cool princess style and lacy looks.

The girlcore fashion was in for a while. [Heo Seryeon / Visual Director] We reinterpreted the trend of balloon skirts or outfits a princess would wear in a cutesy style.

We showcased a blend of cute items and cool street-style items such as sneakers or walkers.

The fashion industry called it the “ILLIT-core,” complimenting the group's originality in the reinterpreted style.

We'll have to see the SUPER and REAL versions together to fully understand the message ILLIT intended to convey through their debut album.

ILLIT's whole concept is being criticized simply because some photos from one of the concepts resembled another group's. I think that's unfair.

So many of Korea's top renowned experts partook in this concept development. It was hard for us to take in the fact that the group is being framed as a mere derivative instigated by one single person.

There is no set standard for emulation and no particular person who makes such standards. What is the standard for emulation anyway? Why did you use our choreography without our permission?

I really want to know. Why did you steal our choreography, BELIFT LAB? Those are our main dance moves. Our choreographers are seething with anger.

She has a right to be furious. They're like twins. Easy and Attention are the same! Noise Marketing. Same choreographer, same agency. They're like NewJeans' double. NewJeans with different members.

Plagiarizing singer, plagiarizing director. We need an explanation from ILLIT. They're just a mix-match of famous groups.

According to President Min Hee Jin, she didn't agree to this. LOL Who made the choreography? The members are innocent, but the choreography is...

It could be a respectful homage to their agency seniors. They're just innocent girls. The grown-ups are the problem. Creativity is extinct.

Hello, I'm Myeong Sang-woo, the Performance Director of ILLIT. In my opinion, it's unreasonable to even bring up plagiarism for this matter.

When we request a choreography from tremendously famous choreographers, we provide about ten directions. None of the directions mentioned NewJeans.

Most of the controversy stemmed from parts that are so fleeting. The public is enjoying and dancing along to the finger choreography from "Magnetic." It became ILLIT's signature dance move and the core focus of the choreography.

If we inspect our choreography as a whole, you'll realize that it feels nothing like that of NewJeans.

If you take a look at the allegedly copied dance move, you can see them groove to accentuate the "magnetic" part, hold it briefly, then let go.

This isn't even the highlight, and it lasts less than two seconds.

I do not see how this is plagiarism. Please consider the broader picture. It's called a kick and step, and is one of the oldest basic moves.

It's one of the first moves you learn when you enroll at a hip-hop dancing academy.

She also claimed there are similarities between the choreography of ILLIT's "Lucky Girl Syndrome" and NewJeans' "Chicken Dance." We found it ridiculous as we don't reference other groups' choreographies in ads.

The structure of that choreography is completely different.

The only similarity is the hand move where they rub their hands. We do it during a wave, while they do it along with dance steps.

So they do the hand move with steps, while we do it during the chorus coming down on the side along with a wave.

This hand move serves as the basics of K-pop choreography for both boy and girl idol groups.

It's a basic move used with all kinds of variations.

This basically means every choreography is a copy of another.

It would be impossible to create a truly new choreography. The rhythm and footwork are completely different.

To insist on plagiarism just because of a basic hand move is stepping over the line. Hair whip is almost always present in girl group choreographies as if it's a must.

But with a subtle difference in how it is expressed, you can make it look stunningly sexy, beautiful, or pure and clean.

We intended a “cool, pretty, and stylish" vibe with the hair whip along with the following move where the members nod their heads twice.

If you look at the choreography as a whole, it's contextually different. That's why I don't think this can be considered plagiarism.

If you edit certain choreographies to make them look similar to others, frankly, the same will go for many of NewJeans' choreographies.

ILLIT - My World / NewJeans - Attention / Choreography video of Yanis Marshall / NewJeans - Attention VIVIZ - BOP BOP!

/ NewJeans - Attention / IVE - LOVE DIVE / NewJeans - Attention Even moves from a Mexican girl group, Jeans, can be edited to highlight the similarity between the two groups.

TLC / NewJeans / NMIXX / NewJeans / Jojo Gomez / NewJeans / Source: YouTube - KBS Kpop I think their claims are a bit unclear.

Do we look at how recently the choreography came out? Is it okay if the choreography is from a boy group?

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