New girl group I’VE accused of copying Everglow’s greeting hand sign, “They are exactly the same”

Although receiving attention thanks to Jang Won-young, the girl group I’VE was involved in a controversy over “copying hand sign” as soon as they debuted.

Everglow fans argued that the greeting and hand sign of I’VE were too similar to those of Everglow. I’VE, to which Jang Won-young belongs, has made an explosive debut, starting with a showcase on December 1st. The group is drawing keen attention since it has Jang Won-young and Ahn Yujin, who have already established their position as idols before.

However, when the photos of I’VE showcase were released, Everglow fans poured out complaints. It was because I’VE‘s greeting sign of showing 3 fingers resembled so much to that of the senior group Everglow. Both girl groups greet by stretching 3 fingers of their right hands and putting them close to their eyes.

Competition among girl groups is getting more intense, and idols are trying to show their own unique greetings. However, since the movements that can be created by using hands are limited so this has resulted in similarities of different groups’ hand signs. In 2017, it was once pointed out that the greeting sign of 14U plagiarized Red Velvet‘s.

In response to the controversy related to I’VE’s hand gesture, Internet users on theqoo commented, “Everglow also has 6 members, so I thought both were the same group”, “I was so surprised because the hand signs looked so similar”, “But shouldn’t the group debuted later change their greeting sign?”, “It’s not ‘similar’ but exactly identical”. However, some netizens pointed out, “It looked different in the video”, “This is inevitable because not many things can be done with hands”.