“BLATANTLY COPIED”- Fans allege NCT’s Taeyong of copying BTS’ ARIRANG MV after ‘WYLD’ ship visuals spark plagiarism debate

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NCT’s leader Taeyong is under fire on the internet after getting accused of plagiarizing BTS ARIRANG’s concept for his album, WYLD. A brief black-and-white teaser for his first solo album was released on the official sites of the SM Entertainment group on May 7, 2026.

Fans were quick to notice the similarity between the sailor and the navy imagery with that of BTS’ Swim. Since both the teaser and the music video of Swim featured boats, it sparked a debate amongst netizens.

While the ARMY presented previous cases of SM Entertainment groups copying BTS’ songs, videos and concepts, Taeyong’s fanbase supported his next music venture. One person wrote on X:

“Any person who had brains would realise that the timing is NOT A COINCIDENCE. ITS BLATANTLY COPIED ARIRANG CONCEPT. NCT PLAGIARISM BTS SO BAD BRO.”

Fans brought up moments when NCT had allegedly copied song titles, lyrics and music video themes from the seven-member group. People also argued over how Taeyong possibly came up with the sailor concept, inspired by his time as an active duty soldier in the South Korean Navy.

@tomielvvs_ From business perspective, given the prevasiveness of SWIM, it’s indeed a great time to lean into the concept and build some hype. His fans said he’s reheating his own nachos, but why now? Why SM chose the moment after BTS successful cb with SWIM? We all know the answer.

@tomielvvs_ Knowing SMs weird pettiness when it comes to bts this doesn’t move me

@tomielvvs_ SM and their old yet effective strategy . They had been doing this for several years in some BTS songs and MV. Like LGO , Butter , Dynamite , Its a strategy If they went for their own cncept their artist will not make even a buzzing sound , But bc they did this , Yes now its

A few others made remarks on how the NCT leader’s teaser video featured an old ship, whereas BTS were seen aboard a modern yacht in their music video. K-pop fans debated that the concepts involving boats, pirates and ocean imagery aren’t exclusive to one idol group. Some even talked about ATEEZ and TWICE, who had released music videos with similar concepts before ARIRANG was announced.

@solmerv can yall stop man pirate ships have BEEN a thing in kpop concepts (cough cough did ateez fans say bts plagiarised? i don’t think so. bc it’s a normal concept.) + afaik taeyong just served in the navy 😭

@neogotmybangtan The obsession Armys have with NCT is weird. BTS doesn’t own the boat nor sailor concept. And I’m not into Kpop hardcore like this(TY’s verse in Rock Solid was pretty fire tho. He really channeled N.E.R.D in the best way possible 😁)

@solmerv Taeyong served 2 years in the navy during his military enlistment so it’s obvious for him to do sea and ship related content. Moreover that’s just mood sampler for image teasers it’s not the actual concept of his album.

@solmerv @MrsTOH2O We saw it coming, they saw it coming, the whole industry saw it coming… No one is surprised that everyone will be releasing records with similar concepts and sounds 🙂🙂🙂

NCT subunits were previously accused of copying the concepts of BTS

Fans have previously called out how NCT WISH for allegedly copying BTS’ 2.0 lyrics for their first full-length album, Ode to Love. The criticism came in after the NCT subunit released their song titled 2.0 (TWO POINT O) on April 20, 2026.

In another instance, NCT Dream’s Life Is Still Going On, released back in 2021, was compared to BTS’ song, Life Goes On. People claimed that NCT Dream had stolen the music video aesthetics, title and lyrics from the BTS track.

BTS 'SWIM' MV Photo Sketch (Image via X/@bts_bighit)BTS 'SWIM' MV Photo Sketch (Image via X/@bts_bighit)
BTS ‘SWIM’ MV Photo Sketch (Image via X/@bts_bighit)

While the back and forth between netizens continues, the 30-year-old idol’s first full-length album is set to be released on May 18, 2026. The album consists of 10 tracks, where the rapper contributed as a lyricist and composer. Taeyong has continued forging his individual identity outside the group while experimenting with various genres in his previous mini albums SHALALA and TAP.