[Sportschosun Kim Joon-seok] Broadcaster Seo Jang-hoon brought up the plagiarism controversy surrounding Roo’ra’s “Cheon Sang Yu Ae” in front of Lee Sang-min.
He also drew attention by revealing that he had accidentally heard the original song in the United States before the issue became controversial in Korea.
The latest episode of JTBC’s variety show “Knowing Bros” featured guests Oh Man-seok, Micky Jung, SF9’s Chani, and Lee Tak-soo, who are appearing in the play “Dead Poets Society.”
That day, Seo Jang-hoon recalled his time living in the United States in 1995 and brought up an unexpected story involving Roo’ra’s “Cheon Sang Yu Ae.”
Seo Jang-hoon said, “When I was in the U.S. for a year, I used to rent videos from a supermarket. The one I bought then was Roo’ra’s ‘Cheon Sang Yu Ae.'” As the old plagiarism issue suddenly came up, Lee Sang-min, a former member of Roo’ra, laughed awkwardly and said, “Of all times, then.”
At the time, Seo Jang-hoon had no idea there had been any controversy. In fact, he said he immediately liked “Cheon Sang Yu Ae” the first time he heard it.
Seo Jang-hoon recalled, “I played the song in the car, and it was so good.” But a Japanese acquaintance he was living with heard it and brought up something unexpected. The acquaintance said there was a song that sounded similar and played a Japanese track for him.
After hearing the original song, Seo Jang-hoon immediately noticed the similarity between the two tracks. He said of his reaction at the time, “I said, ‘What is this?’ They were exactly the same.”
Lee Sang-min, the person at the center of the issue, did not deny it either. He made the studio laugh by saying, “It’s not similar. It’s identical.”
Even more surprising was the timing. When Seo Jang-hoon first heard the original song in the U.S., the plagiarism controversy over “Cheon Sang Yu Ae” had not yet fully erupted in Korea.
Seo Jang-hoon recalled, “A few days later, as if by coincidence, Lee Sang-min appeared in the newspaper over the plagiarism controversy for ‘Dead Poets Society.'” In other words, he had unknowingly gotten an early preview of the issue in the U.S. through his Japanese acquaintance, just before the controversy broke out in Korea.
Lee Soo-geun explained the situation for Chani and Lee Tak-soo, who were not familiar with what had happened at the time. He said, “They released a new song, and a famous singer copied someone else’s song exactly and put it out.” Lee Sang-min then embarrassedly asked, “Why are you explaining that?” drawing more laughter.
Lee Sang-min also directly shared what happened after the plagiarism controversy at the time.
“Cheon Sang Yu Ae,” a track from Roo’ra’s third album released in 1995, sparked major backlash after being accused of plagiarizing the Japanese group Ninja’s “O Matsuri Ninja.”
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