Min Hee-jin Says Referral Is No Ruling as Illit Plagiarism Case Reaches Prosecutors

Min Hee-jin, the former CEO of HYBE's Ador label, has been referred to prosecutors on suspicion of defamation and obstruction of business over her allegations that HYBE's Illit copied NewJeans, the group she had nurtured, The Korea Times reports.

Yongsan Police Station confirmed it sent the case to prosecutors on Oct. 1, on the suspicion that Min spread false plagiarism claims to disparage HYBE and Illit's label, Belift Lab. Two former Ador vice presidents were referred on the same allegations.

Min first raised the copying claims in April 2024, saying Illit had borrowed NewJeans' debut strategy, choreography and visual concept. Belift Lab filed a criminal complaint against her the month after.

Courts weighing the feud have so far declined to recognize the plagiarism claims. In March 2025, ruling on Ador's injunction to confirm its status as NewJeans' agency, a court said Illit's concept was hard to read as a copy of NewJeans. In October 2025, upholding NewJeans' exclusive contracts with Ador, a court found some similarities in the two groups' internal documents and photo shoots but not enough evidence that Illit had copied the concept.

Min, now CEO of ooak records, answered in a statement that the referral was "merely a provisional judgment by an investigative agency," not an indictment or a court ruling. She noted the same police station had previously declined to refer a separate HYBE complaint against her.

She also accused HYBE's labels of stalling their damages suits against her. Belift Lab's case at the Seoul Western District Court, she said, has run for more than two years and is set for a ruling on Nov. 13, but the label moved to reopen arguments citing the police referral.

A separate thread in r/kpop on Friday, posted by u/themichaelfalk, was titled "Min Hee Jin's associate indicted for stealing HYBE confidential information" and drew 498 upvotes and 36 comments.

On X, @VgjvMm posted that prosecutors had charged a former Ador vice president described as a close Min associate under the Information and Communications Network Act, seeking a 5 million won fine. @Yoonginapuppy2 posted that the same former vice president was indicted for allegedly downloading 51 confidential HYBE financial documents. Both describe a stage past the Oct. 1 referral, and both are posts rather than court records.

The next scheduled date is Nov. 13, when the Seoul Western District Court is due to rule in Belift Lab's suit, unless the label's motion to reopen arguments shifts it.