The Korea Economic Daily Reports "Lee Soo Man Executive Producer of SM Entertainment, Cultural President who Became the Foundation of the K-Pop Industry"

Kapanlagi.com - The Korea Economic Daily, a leading Korean economic magazine, highlights Lee Soo Man, the executive producer of SM Entertainment.

In an article released on December 9, 2020, The Korea Economic Daily writes, "The SM Town concert in Paris, France, in June 2011 was a monumental event, not only in Korea but also in the history of pop culture worldwide. It was the first time Asian K-Pop singers toured the heart of European culture. European fans shed tears as they watched the performances of TVXQ and Girls Generation. Lee Soo Man, the executive producer of SM Entertainment, confirmed that K-Pop is a globally competitive product. The titles 'pioneer of the K-Pop phenomenon' and 'President of Culture Leading Entertainment Industry Standards' have always followed him. The path he has taken has become the history of the K-Pop industry."

Regarding the vision of producer Lee Soo Man, The Korea Economic Daily writes, "For the first time in the Korean entertainment industry, Lee Soo Man created a 'star system' called Culture Technology (CT). CT nurtures K-Pop singers who showcase colorful group dances and captivating music through four main processes: casting, training, production, and management. The K-Pop incubation system is a competitive resource that is currently dominating the global market. The process of selecting trainees and training them for a long time to become singers is impossible to be done in the United States or Europe, as this is a system where singers entrust their work to agencies only after they become big and successful. "SM is the only company in the world that does everything from talent search to training and production," reported British Financial Times. Bang Si Hyuk, the producer from Big Hit Entertainment who raised BTS, JYP Park Jin Young, and YG Yang Hyun Suk, also benchmarked the CT created by producer Lee Soo Man to produce exceptional singers. Based on CT, producer Lee Soo Man also suggested the three-stage evolution of Hallyu. The first stage of Hallyu is exporting cultural products. The second stage of Hallyu is a strategy to expand the market through collaboration with local companies or celebrities. The third stage of Hallyu is passing on the SM CT to local companies and sharing the added value created."

The Korea Economic Daily also wrote about how executive producer Lee Soo Man started the history of K-Pop by saying, "Starting with H.O.T., who popularized the term 'hallyu' with the success of their solo concert in Beijing in 2000, BoA, who became the first Korean singer to top the Oricon Japan chart, TVXQ broke the record for the largest number of foreign singers on the Oricon album chart and 'single' category, as well as the record for the largest number of audience in a single tour in Japan, SUPER JUNIOR, who led the K-Pop phenomenon in the United States, South America, and Europe, Girls Generation, considered the best girl group, EXO released a million-seller album in 12 years in the K-Pop industry, NCT introduced a new type of K-Pop group that changes members from one region to another with openness, and SuperM, who became the first Asian singer to top the Billboard 'Billboard 200' main chart with their debut album. The success of the SuperM combined team, dubbed the 'K-Pop Avengers', proves producer Lee Soo Man's status as the 'best K-Pop strategist'."

Not only artists, The Korea Economic Daily also highlights the steps taken by producer Lee Soo Man, who has become an influencer in various aspects of the entertainment industry, "The global show brand 'SMTOWN LIVE' has been successful since its first tour in 2008. 'SMTOWN LIVE' has achieved various records, including the first single brand performance in Paris, France, the first Asian singer to perform at Madison Square Garden in New York, and the first foreign singer to perform at the main stadium of the Beijing Olympics in China. In 2020, he sent a glimmer of hope to the sluggish global entertainment industry with the 'COVID-19' pandemic in the form of the world's first paid online concert platform called 'Beyond LIVE'."

Continuing about executive producer Lee Soo Man, "Producer Lee Soo Man is often said to be good at analyzing the future industry and capturing opportunities. He was the first to realize the importance of social media in the digital era. One example is the first virtual national declaration ceremony in the world in 2012. He suggested the vision that the Korean population could grow into a large country with billions of people, not just 50 million. "In the future, everyone is born with two citizenships," he said. "One is the citizenship of the actual birth country and the other is the citizenship of the 'virtual' country." Fans around the world who watch SM content through YouTube and Facebook are people from SMTown and the SM country. Producer Lee Soo Man is also known as the 'Korean Wave Leader of Challenge and Vision'. The artists and music produced by him have further increased the influence of Korean pop culture in the global market, and this influence has become a catalyst for Korean culture such as Hangul letters and Korean food to take root in the global market. Produser Lee Soo Man was also honored as the first Korean to win the '2016 Asian Game Changer Awards', awarded by the 'Asia Society' of the United States for his contributions in changing the map of the world's cultural industry through the Korean Wave in 2016.

About the brief history of executive producer Lee Soo Man, The Korea Economic Daily writes, "Lee Soo Man, executive producer of SM Entertainment, was born in Seoul in 1952 and graduated from Kyungbok High School and the Department of Agricultural Engineering at Seoul National University. Although he wanted to pursue a career in line with his academic path, he could not let go of his dream of becoming a singer and made his debut as a founding member of the male duet Lee Soo Man and The 365 Days (Sa-wolgwa O-wol) in 1971 and took the path as a celebrity. He enjoyed his heyday winning the MBC '10th Male Rookie Award (1976)' and MBC '10th Singer Award (1977)' with hit songs like 'After Everything is Over' in 1975 and 'Hansongi's Dream' in 1976. Since starting his radio DJ career in 1974, he has also played a major role as a host, including MC roles on 'MBC Campus Music Festival', 'KBS Entertainment Weekly' and 'Sunday Night'. His main turning point as a businessman was when he was studying in the United States in 1981 to study computer science. At that time, he saw the opening of MTV in the United States and predicted that the future music market would change into 'visual music'. After returning to South Korea, he launched a music business aimed at the global market. He established SM Studio, the predecessor of SM Entertainment, in 1989. Starting with H.O.T., the first idol group in 1996, he continued to debut hit groups like S.E.S. and Shinhwa.

Furthermore, "In 1998, BoA, who was in fifth grade, was chosen to be a female singer targeting the Japanese market. She set industry standards by creating an adventure method that had never been tried before, both domestically and internationally. Systematically, BoA learned to dance, sing, foreign languages, and culture. When BoA made her debut, even the Japanese mistook BoA, who spoke perfect Japanese, for their own citizen. SM took over the production of BoA's dance and songs, while Avex Japan was responsible for distribution and marketing. In South Korea, producer Lee Soo Man has also established a four-stage production and management system. He enhanced the music listening experience with brilliant choreography performed by handsome singers, so that music is not only enjoyed by the ears, but also visually. Such business strategies have become the benchmark for the majority of K-Pop companies and the standard of the K-Pop industry. Since 2010, he has introduced a professional management system and focused on globalization strategies as an executive producer. He is also recognized as a pioneer of the K-Pop industry in the global market and has been awarded various accolades. He is the only Korean producer on the '2020 Billboard Impact List' by Billboard United States, which selects 22 leaders with extraordinary abilities in shaping the future of the global music industry this year."

(kpl/jje)