Min Hee-jin asked NewJeans if she should ‘scold ILLIT,’ Belift Lab claims in final hearing

[K-pop Courtroom]

Former ADOR CEO Min Hee-jin asked NewJeans members whether they wanted her to "scold ILLIT,” Belift Lab’s attorneys claimed during the final hearing in the company’s ongoing 2 billion won ($1.49 million) damages lawsuit against Min on Friday.

During the 55-minute hearing at the Seoul Western District Court in western Seoul, HYBE’s Belift Lab, which manages ILLIT, argued that Min led the NewJeans members and their parents to believe that HYBE had copied NewJeans in creating the octet.

Min’s legal team, meanwhile, maintained that speculation over similarities between the two groups had already been widespread among the public well before Min raised the issue with HYBE executives.

The lawsuit stems from the former ADOR chief's bombshell press conference in April 2024, when she argued that HYBE copied NewJeans in creating ILLIT. Belift Lab sued Min for 2 billion won in damages in June that year, and Min later countersued Belift Lab for 5 billion won, arguing that the alleged copying undermined the brand value of NewJeans and ADOR and, in turn, caused her financial losses.

Belift Lab has argued that Min caused significant damage to ILLIT’s public image and brand early in its career, when the girl group was still a rookie act with a relatively small fan base.

Min’s legal representatives, on the other hand, have argued that the alleged copying concerned a broader methodology of production — similarities that Min maintains had also been pointed out by members of the public and critics — rather than direct copyright infringement.

During Friday’s final hearing, a Belift Lab attorney referred to one of Min’s best-known remarks from her first press conference.

“The most famous line she used at the press conference was, ‘Come at me one-on-one,’” the attorney said, “and now the defendant is trying to avoid responsibility by saying it was only an expression of opinion.”

“The defendant has been arguing that what she said about the copying allegations was not an assertion of fact but an expression of opinion,” the attorney continued, referring to Min’s question during the April 2024 press conference: “Belift Lab, why did you copy our choreography?”

Belift Lab, on its part, dismissed Min's longstanding claim that the remark was not a factual assertion but a question demanding an explanation.

The label argued that the accusations were baseless and that it was Min who planted the idea of similarities between ILLIT and NewJeans in the minds of the NewJeans members’ parents, rather than the other way around.

“The submitted transcript shows Min saying, ‘I’m finding the wallets of people [NewJeans’ parents] who don’t even know they’ve been robbed and telling them to punish the pickpocket,’ an admission that this started with her,” the attorney said.

The attorney also claimed that in a meeting between the NewJeans members’ parents and HYBE executives after Min first raised the allegations internally in 2024, the parents said the ADOR chief had shared materials pointing to similarities between the two acts in a group chat.

“The defendant uploaded several examples one after another in the group chat,” the attorney said. “She is said to have asked the members, ‘Should I scold ILLIT?’ The members blurted out, ‘Yes,’ and then [in April 2024], when Min was to hold the press conference, the members said they felt anxious about Min potentially taking aim at ILLIT.”

The attorney added that Min had misled the members and their parents by telling them, “HYBE created ILLIT, so NewJeans will be abandoned.”

ILLIT nevertheless became successful despite the massive backlash and difficulties, the attorney said, arguing that the group’s success showed that the public recognized ILLIT’s originality.

Min’s legal team, on the other hand, pointed to ILLIT’s success as counterevidence to Belift Lab’s claim that Min’s remarks caused substantial, tangible damage to the group. The attorneys also argued that HYBE has yet to disclose which brand deals allegedly fell through and when because of Min’s remarks.

Min’s representatives also maintained that similarities between the two groups had already been pointed out by critics and members of the public before Min raised the issue with HYBE executives.

“An idol group’s brand is not just one song, one photo or one dance move,” Min’s attorney said.

“A group’s brand identity is created when everything […] comes together. The defendant spent a long time carefully planning NewJeans to differentiate the group from existing girl groups, and NewJeans’ arrival became a case that sounded the alarm over K-pop becoming uniform. NewJeans quickly became a brand that generated 110 billion won in revenue for HYBE. The plaintiff and HYBE then chose, for convenience, to take the same approach taken with NewJeans.”

Min’s side stressed that, as ADOR’s CEO, she had a duty to raise the issue internally with HYBE and demand changes. The parent label responded by launching an audit and disclosing the dispute to the press, the attorneys argued, which ultimately led Min to issue her own statement and hold the April 2024 press conference.

Min viewed the similarities as “an issue involving ideas that are not protected by copyright and therefore one that should be resolved through public discussion,” her attorney said, adding that she had raised the issue to “protect the interests of ADOR, NewJeans and the fandom and uphold creative ethics.”

Min’s side also argued that Belift Lab’s allegedly defamatory statements and online attacks against Min caused reputational and emotional harm, leading to her filing for damage claims.

“What truly matters in this case is whether public opinion about the similarities already existed [before Min raised the issue],” the attorney said, stressing that this could be objectively established.

“Under these circumstances, Min had no choice but to raise the issue, and from the standpoint of creative ethics, it was something the defendant had to do,” the attorney said.

“We hope issues of creative ethics will continue to be brought into public discussion and freely discussed in the K-pop industry going forward.”

Friday’s hearing marked the eighth and final hearing before the court makes its ruling, which is scheduled for Nov. 13.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [[email protected]]