After School Blue Accused of Plagiarizing Hyori’s Former Band Fin.K.L

After School’s subunit, After School Blue, has recently been caught up in a plagiarism controversy with their latest single, “Wonder Boy,” for allegedly copying “Forever Love” by Fin.K.L, a 90’s girl group that Hyori, Ock Ju Hyun, Sung Yuri, and Lee Jin once belonged to.

“Wonder Boy,” released on July 20^th, has melodies and lyrics strikingly similar to “Forever Love,” as both songs even end with the same line, “Yak Sok Hae Jo (Promise me).” In response to the growing allegations, After School’s agency, Pledis Entertainment, made an official statement saying, “It is true that we made it based on Fin.K.L’s ‘Forever Love,’ which was sensational in the 90s. But it was intended to pay homage to the cute and innocent concept of the song, not to stir this plagiarism controversy.”

They continued, “’Forever Love’ contains simple lyrics and catchy sound, which made it more widely popular. We wanted to recreate such type of positive influence through ‘Wonder Boy.’ If you compare their live performances, you will be able to see After School Blue’s unique charms completely different from Fin.K.L’s.”

After School split into two separate subunits, After School Blue and After School Red, and have been running promotions simultaneously. The group will make their official Japanese debut on August 17^th.

For your information, here we have the music videos of “Wonder Boy” and “Forever Love.” What do you think? Do they sound similar at all?