KATSEYE Accused Of Plagiarising BTS’s “Arirang,” Sparking Heated Reactions

The highly anticipated tracklist reveal for KATSEYE’s upcoming EP WILD is already sparking backlash after fans pointed out a striking resemblance to BTS’s latest comeback.

When BTS first unveiled the 14-track lineup for ARIRANG back in March this year, the simple yet bold tracklist graphic became a major talking point, with fans praising the release’s memorable creative direction. The design featured ARIRANG’s eye-catching color palette, with each track title printed in black on overlapping strips of red tape.

BTS (방탄소년단) ‘ARIRANG’ Tracklist#BTS #방탄소년단#BTS_ARIRANG #BTS_SWIM pic.twitter.com/ccFfacDLbC

— BIGHIT MUSIC (@BIGHIT_MUSIC) March 3, 2026

This week, labelmates KATSEYE announced the tracklist for WILD, with six songs including recent singles “Animal” and “Pinky Up.” But while many fans were eagerly speculating about B-sides, others were quick to note that the graphic looked familiar.

EP 3 ‘WILD’
(Wild heart ver.)
AUGUST 14 pic.twitter.com/JXR9XnyLmO

— KATSEYE (@katseyeworld) July 30, 2026

ARMY soon flooded social media to slam HYBE, with many accusing KATSEYE’s team of outright copying the design. Alongside the black-on-red styling, both tracklists feature a plain-color textured background and similar sans-serif fonts.

Bro there’s absolutely no way this is real please tell me this isn’t real what the fuck is that dumbass company DOING bro

— ⁷ (@seokrirangs) July 31, 2026

THIS CANNOT BE REAL??????????????

— sdl ٭ (@_sdl93) July 31, 2026

“In 6 months, everyone will have a similar concept to arirang” guess how many months have passed LMFAO IM DEAD

— ☆Koko⁷☆ VIÓ A BTS (@koko_koob) July 31, 2026

Several EYEKONS, meanwhile, have their own concerns with the tracklist — in particular, with track three, “Hootie Frutti.”

oh my fucking god hootie frutti was a real thing this whole time pic.twitter.com/nBVdZdHRV7

— rebe 🩵🤍 (@iloveyouxanny) July 30, 2026

WILD is set to release on August 14.