Rock icon Jeon In-kwon mired in plagiarism controversy

South Korean rock musician Jeon In-kwon became engulfed in a plagiarism controversy on Wednesday amid allegations part of his hit song, "Don't Worry, My Dear" is similar to a 70s German rock number.

A post raising questions about the originality of Jeon's song surfaced on a South Korean internet community.

The post alleged that the chorus of "Don't Worry, My Dear"sounded especially similar to that of Black Fooss' "Drink doch eine met." The title means "let's have a drink" in English.

The 62-year-old Jeon, former frontman of South Korea's legendary rock band Deulgukhwa, composed and released the song in 2004 as the title track of his fourth solo album.

The song became widely popular in 2015 after being included on the soundtrack of the hit tvN drama "Reply 1988." It also became an iconic song at the candlelight vigils since late October that lead to the ouster of former President Park Geun-hye in March.

Jeon admitted to the similarity between the two songs but flatly denied the plagiarism accusation.

"I listened to the song by the German band after the controversy surfaced. It seems as though there are parts that sound similar," Jeon told Yonhap News.

"But I did not plagiarize. The singer of the band seems as if he's a bit similar to me but I do not plagiarize," he added.

Jeon made headlines recently for announcing his support for presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo from the People's Party. The musician was later attacked on social media by followers of front-runner Moon Jae-in of the Democratic Party. (Yonhap)