NewJeans' producer and ADOR CEO, Min Hee-jin, reportedly attempted to gather evidence to prove that K-pop acts ILLIT, TWS and Riize plagiarized her group, according to a local news outlet's report on Wednesday.

According to the report, Min and ADOR interviewed staff members from the agencies managing the K-pop acts and monitored public opinion on online communities.

HYBE became aware of this information through a “whistle-blower” and will investigate it through the company's ongoing internal probe, initiated on Monday morning, as reported by entertainment outlet Sports Donga.

"ADOR interviewed agency staff members involved in the debut of rookie groups ILLIT, TWS and Riize, and monitored public opinion in online communities to strengthen their case that those groups plagiarized NewJeans," a quote attributed to the HYBE insider in the report said.

The insider also stated that ADOR "repeatedly questioned staff members of the groups’ labels with the intent of verifying whether those groups plagiarized NewJeans."

HYBE has prioritized investigating this information as part of its audit process, according to the source.

Currently, HYBE and its subsidiary label ADOR are embroiled in a public dispute, with HYBE claiming that ADOR has been considering multiple financial firms and strategies to gain management control from its parent label.

In contrast, ADOR refuted these claims, stating that "such claims are completely unfounded."

Min has pointed to the issue of rookie girl group ILLIT plagiarizing NewJeans as a catalyst for her conflict with HYBE in a statement released on Monday evening. She alleges that HYBE has held a grudge against her since she criticized the company's multi-label system for ignoring the similarities between NewJeans and ILLIT, which debuted in March under ADOR's sister label, Belift Lab.

BY KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]