ILLIT Accused of Sniping at NewJeans But Fans Defend Group: ‘It’s Forced Hate…’

In an online community, ILLIT fans came to the defense of the group following baseless accusations that they had intentionally targeted NewJeans.

On May 13, a post on Instiz caused a contentious discussion among K-pop enthusiasts when the original poster shared ILLIT’s variety show “I’LL (SHOW) IT”that was previously uploaded on the M2 YouTube channel on March 25.

The netter drew attention to a specific part during the quintet’s food world cup, where two dishes were displayed on the screen and the participants had to select one to save and one to eliminate.

Just as Yunah was about to make her decision, the options of galbijjim (braised beef short-ribs) and kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) were presented. However, four out of the five people, including Yunah, ultimately chose the latter option.

Despite being a matter of personal preference, the addition of the subtitle “Kalguksu is a trend”by the M2 channel sparked unnecessary controversy among K-netizens.

When this was posted on the internet community without proper context, certain users jumped to the conclusion that it was a deliberate insult towards NewJeans, particularly towards Minji who had previously been involved in a Kalguksu controversy.

“Since when did Kalguksu become a trend? I think they were aiming at them a hundred percent.”

“But it’s amazing that they chose Kalguksu haha. Isn’t it a default galbijjim?”

“How can it be that kalguksu is the trend? Kalguksu is suddenly the trend? suddenly?”

In December 2022, Minji had mentioned that she had never tried Kalguksu before, which caused confusion among Koreans as it is a widely consumed dish in the country.

Ever since, she has been accused of pretending to have a “classy”image and deliberately avoiding food that is considered common.

Upon ILLIT’s issue resurfacing, K-Netz shared the clip and fans of the group promptly called out the OP and M2 for their malicious subtitle. The five members were also fiercely defended by their supporters.

Here are a few of the comments:

“The members just chose their favorite food, but the subtitles are a bit weird. The members just naturally chose their favorite food.”

“This seems a bit far-fetched.”

“No, it’s because the members chose a lot of kalguksu.”

“That’s just Yunah talking about braised ribs and the rest of the kids talking about kalguksu, so it’s like kalguksu is the trend among the kids. I watched the video.”

“It’s just that many of the members chose kalguksu, so kalguksu is the most popular dish (within ILLIT). I think this is what the subtitle means.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1k6f49Pq8M

[ILLIT : I'LL (SHOW) IT] 아일릿 아윌쇼잇 (ENG/JPN) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1k6f49Pq8M)

In the midst of this argument, the tension between the two girl groups heightened as Min Hee Jin accused HYBE of copying the NewJeans concept for their debut of ILLIT.

Consequently, the rivalry between their individual fan bases continued to escalate as they fiercely defended their respective favorite groups.