Shin Woo-suk, the director of NewJeans' comeback pre-release single Ditto, has denied the plagiarizing comments the song has received.ADOR’s rookie girl group made a thrilling comeback with Ditto a few days ago on December 19. It is a pre-release single of their upcoming album, OMG, scheduled for release in January 2023.fau🌼@newjimuseditto mv director Instagram story "i heard that there is a controversy that newjeans ditto mv that i worked on this time plagiarized infinite challenge it's not plagiarism, if there is a scene that you think is similar, i would appreciate it if you could understand ++1186127ditto mv director Instagram story "i heard that there is a controversy that newjeans ditto mv that i worked on this time plagiarized infinite challenge it's not plagiarism, if there is a scene that you think is similar, i would appreciate it if you could understand ++ https://t.co/8nKzosEMdkSince the Ditto group’s concept has been Y2K from the beginning, the recent music video also falls into the same aesthetic. However, some netizens claimed that it was plagiarized from Infinite Challenge, a classic South Korean variety show that ran from 2005 to 2018.Ditto director Shin Woo-suk addressed the issue on his Instagram story. He said:“I heard that NewJeans’s ‘Ditto’ music video was accused of plagiarizing Infinite Challenge. I would like to take this opportunity to state that it isn’t plagiarism. If there are similarities, please understand they are due to being of the (two projects) being of the same genre.”NewJeans’ Ditto music video director posts an Instagram story about plagiarism, says it was just a jokeThe similarities that fans found between NewJeans' Ditto and Infinite Challenge (Image via theqoo)On December 19, NewJeans made their much-anticipated comeback with Ditto. The pre-release single gave fans two music videos, featuring young actors Park Ji-hu and Choi Hyun-wook playing a key role in the storyline.The music videos received ample attention, but they also got tangled in a plagiarism controversy. On South Korean site theqoo, netizens jokingly called out the similarities between the music video’s direction and Infinite Challenge.K-netizens' reactions on the theqoo post (Image via Koreaboo)In Shin Woo-suk's second story, he added that he had received many supportive messages but he was only joking. He wrote:“I'm just kidding, but I'm having a lot of DMs supporting me, so it's hard to reply."fau🌼@newjimuse353😕💀 https://t.co/NBvzSzrxdkIn the third story, he posted a screenshot of a local South Korean outlet’s news on the same, and reiterated that his statement was just a joke.However, the series of Instagram stories left fans bewildered as they were unsure if the director was actually joking or serious.Some fans believed that the plagiarism issues probably went too far, while others mentioned that it was all in jest. Take a look at some of the fans’ comments below:fau🌼@newjimuseit's a joke he's just tagging along because this man is very unserious 1793it's a joke he's just tagging along because this man is very unserious 💀july@julysunset7@newjimuse Y’all know it a joke right, seeing ppl taking this seriously makes me questioning my life16@newjimuse Y’all know it a joke right😭, seeing ppl taking this seriously makes me questioning my lifefau🌼@newjimuse@julysunset7 nobody is taking it serious we're just confused if he's joking or not because he's writing not saying it we can't see his tone 1@julysunset7 nobody is taking it serious we're just confused if he's joking or not because he's writing not saying it we can't see his tone 💀zy 𓃺 ditto enthusiast@newjeanified@newjimuse isnt this an ongoing joke in korea?15@newjimuse isnt this an ongoing joke in korea?fau🌼@newjimuse@newjeanified it is idk maybe it has went overboard or something....@newjeanified it is idk maybe it has went overboard or something....minty says ditto@thenewjeans@newjimuse Huh i thought knet laughing and thinking the accidental similarity was cute.. has it turned into some serious issues?47@newjimuse Huh i thought knet laughing and thinking the accidental similarity was cute.. has it turned into some serious issues?📹@ahnyeongz@newjimuse i think he is just being sarcastic sjdjdjjf because no one is being serious about this shdhdjdj18@newjimuse i think he is just being sarcastic sjdjdjjf 😭 because no one is being serious about this shdhdjdjMeanwhile, NewJeans' Ditto climbed to the No. 1 spot in just six hours of its release on major South Korean music charts such as MelOn, Bugs, and Genie.