Belift Lab & Min Hee-jin’s 2 Billion Won Lawsuit Update: Alleged False Accusations Impacted ILLIT’s Album Sales and Advertising Deals

On the afternoon of March 7th, the second oral argument date for the 2 billion won damages lawsuit filed by Belift Lab against former Adore CEO Min Hee-jin for defamation and obstruction of business was held. On the 2nd trial date, Belift Lab CEO Kim Tae-ho sat in the audience and drew attention.

At the time, the court noted that the court noted that the plaintiff’s submitted preparatory statement was too long and said, “Please limit the basic statement to 30 pages” and asked the PPT materials to be submitted at least 10 days in advance.

The two sides coordinated their opinions on the content of the PT. At the time, Min Hee-jin’s side stated, “The plaintiff (Belief Lab) said that since choreography is the key, they will only focus on the choreography during this PT, but I think that goes against the essence of this incident. The plaintiff side has no intention of opposing focusing on the choreography, but we do not want to limit it to just the choreography.”

Meanwhile, Belift Lab’s side said, “It would be better to prepare a PT regarding the choreography so that the court can understand better (so they said they would prepare the choreography). I remember that they didn’t talk about anything else. We understood that it wasn’t decided what to do in the future, so we decided on the choreography and did it. If the defendant does other parts as well, there is room for additional PT. Besides that, it seems like (the defendant’s) claim of plagiarism included a plan, and they seem to be talking about the photos of them wearing hanbok. If they say that they will do about 30 minutes of choreography and the defendant will do the rest, we will also take care of it.“

On the other hand, previously on January 10, the Seoul Western District Court held the first hearing for Belift Lab’s ₩2 billion damage claim against Min Hee-jin.

Belift Lab alleges that Min Hee-jin made false claims during press conferences, accusing ILLIT of copying the concept of NewJeans. According to Belift Lab, these accusations negatively impacted ILLIT’s social media following, album sales and advertising contracts, resulting in losses totaling ₩2 billion.

The judge summarized Belift Lab’s position:

• ILLIT’s concept and branding focus on real teenagers, contrasting with NewJeans’ Y2K nostalgia theme.
• Belift Lab claims no interaction or exchange of ideas occurred between the two groups.
• Min Hee-jin’s statements constituted defamatory falsehoods, leading to significant damages.

Min Hee-jin, however, argues that her statements were not false but rather opinions intended for public interest. She also denies any intention to disrupt Belift Lab’s operations.

In April last year, Min Hee-jin accused ILLIT of plagiarizing NewJeans’ concept, citing reactions to ILLIT’s teaser photos, which she claimed bore striking similarities to NewJeans. Belift Lab refuted the allegations, stating that ILLIT’s concept had been finalized internally in July 2023, well before the so-called proposal Min Hee-jin referred to was submitted in late August 2023.

The agency subsequently filed a defamation lawsuit against Min Hee-jin, while she countered by suing Belift Lab’s CEO for defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act and seeking ₩5 billion in damages.