Belift Lab/ILLIT's choreographer makes harsh remarks targeting NewJeans and Min Hee Jin

A choreographer from Belift Lab, responsible for the choreography of the group ILLIT, made some harsh remarks targeting the group NewJeans and the group’s creator Min Hee Jin.

On June 27, choreographer ‘A’ posted on their Instagram story, “Instead of chasing fame, why not follow sincerity and the real trends influenced by contemporary life, rather than pretending to be trendy? Why not embrace authenticity over contrived retro nostalgia?”

The choregrapher added, “I can’t hold back from saying this after talking with a friend who has been a backup dancer for 30 years and another who has been in the field for 27 years. I’m tired of the forced retro trends from people born in the 1970s.” Note: Min Hee Jin was born in 1979.

‘A’ further remarked, “Even a senior who used to choreograph for Kim Gun Mo 30 years ago doesn’t like the forced retro style.”

Although ‘A’ did not specify who they were targeting, the public is speculating that the comments were directed at Min Hee Jin and NewJeans, who have showcased Y2K/1990s sensibilities rooted in the retro vibe.

Korean netizens found this latest post ridiculous and gathered in a popular online community to share their thoughts. They commented:

“Lol, this is just funny.”

“What is this person saying?”

“That’s very badly spoken lol.”

“They spelled words wrong.”

“So ILLIT isn’t going to do the y2k concept?”

“What are they saying?”

“I really don’t understand this nonsense this person is saying.”

“I thought I was the only one who had a hard time understanding their post.”

Last April, Min Hee Jin fueled accusations of ILLIT being a copy of NewJeans during a press conference.

Min Hee Jin highlighted that after ILLIT’s teaser photos were released, there were explosive online reactions of netizens mistaking ILLIT for NewJeans. The ADOR CEO stated, “ILLIT copies NewJeans in all aspects of entertainment activities, including hair, makeup, costumes, choreography, photos, videos, and event appearances. ILLIT is being evaluated as ‘Min Hee Jin style,’ ‘Min Hee Jin type,’ ‘a knockoff of NewJeans,’ and similar labels,” raising allegations of plagiarism.