An original song from the finale of MBC's girl group audition program 'My Teenage Girl' is at the center of controversy.
On February 28 KST, KQ Entertainment released a statement after it was implied that the 'My Teenage Girl' song "SUN" sounded similar to ATEEZ's 2019 single "WAVE."
"On the 27th, after the 'SUN' stage performed by the Challenge Team in the first round of MBC's 'My Teenage Girl' finale, was broadcast, a number of reports were received through our company's official channels and webmaster e-mail address that the song was similar to ATEEZ's 'WAVE,' which was released in 2019, and its chorus melody," the agency wrote in a press statement.
"While monitoring the relevant content, we found that 'Eden-ary,' our producing team [who worked on 'WAVE'], was listed in 'SUN's credits information," they continued. "Our company would like to inform you that there was evidently no prior discussion about this with 'Eden-ary.'"
"In the sense of respecting creators with unique work activities, we hope this misinformation will be corrected soon," they concluded. "And please refrain from making reckless assumptions about it."
Meanwhile, other credits on "SUN" include (G)I-DLE's Soyeon and Pop Time.
The full songs can be heard below, with the copied section beginning at 0:56 in "SUN" and 1:04 in "WAVE."
February really turned out to be the "let's copy ateez" month