“They Benefited From BTS” — Min Hee Jin Accused Of Hypocrisy After Criticizing ILLIT Allegedly Capitalizing On NewJeans
This article is part of our coverage of HYBE vs. ADOR CEO Min Hee Jin. You can read more and view the entire timeline here.
Recent developments in the K-Pop industry have intensified scrutiny over ADOR‘s Min Hee Jin after she accused HYBE and its subsidiary BeLift Lab of undermining her group, NewJeans, with their newly debuted girl group, ILLIT. Min claimed that ILLIT’s branding and concept bore a striking resemblance to NewJeans, an allegation she described as a deliberate effort by HYBE to replicate her group’s success.
In an exclusive interview with Hankyung on April 22, 2024, Min expressed concerns that HYBE’s actions were threatening the unique identity and brand value of NewJeans. She alleged that the similarity between the two groups was not a coincidence but a strategy by HYBE, motivated by profit. According to Min, ADOR has made multiple attempts to address these concerns with BeLift Lab but to no avail.
In her statement, Min Hee Jin even says, “ADOR does not want ILLIT and NewJeans to be linked in any way at all. We have no intention of allowing anyone to promote themselves using phrases like ‘NewJeans’ dongsaeng group,’ just because the groups debuted under the HYBE umbrella.”
However, this stance has led to charges of hypocrisy from Korean netizens, who claimed that NewJeans themselves were initially marketed as “BTS‘s sister group,” a tactic employed by HYBE to boost their visibility. Headlines from the time of NewJeans’ debut and their participation in BTS’s “Permission to Dance” music video were cited as evidence of HYBE’s typical promotional strategies that benefit new artists on a viral post on theqoo.
Netizens argue that Min Hee Jin is now criticizing the very practices that helped establish NewJeans. They claim that leveraging the fame of established groups like BTS to introduce new artists is a common and effective strategy in K-Pop, one that ADOR itself has utilized.
- “But overseas, junior groups from the same agency totally benefit from the spillover effect.”
- “This is really unprecedented, utterly shameless.”
- “They’re looking at investors as if they’re stupid.”
- “It’s the epitome of hypocrisy. They promoted the trainee group as BTS’s little sister group, even having them appear in a BTS music video.”
- “The hypocrisy is severe. And what does that have to do with the breach of trust?”
- “With NewJeans’ comeback right around the corner, the agency is being incredibly reckless.”
- “Wasn’t the idea from the start to benefit from the spillover effect with the music video?”
- “They even appeared in a BTS video…”
- “How many ‘younger siblings’ does BTS have? I remember laughing about it. It’s just ridiculous.”
- “Not to hype up HYBE or anything, but BTS’s impact definitely seems bigger than NewJeans’ impact.”
- “Aren’t they the only junior idol group that appeared in a BTS music video?”
- “I wouldn’t have watched any of their music videos at all, had I not been a fan of HYBE artists.”
- “If you’ve benefited yourself, it only makes sense to promote future junior groups in the same way, right?”
- “Haha.”
- “Wow, looks like she would sell her country too…”
- “What about being BTS’s little sister group???”
