Lee Soo-man Pushes “Beyond K-pop” toward Complete Globalization with A2O Entertainment, Marking a Third Era

Lee Soo-man, founder of SM Entertainment, is advancing complete globalization beyond K-pop through his new company, A2O Entertainment. We examined his vision to break free from the limitations of Hallyu and transform it into music without borders. In a written interview with Yonhap News, Lee Soo-man stated, “We must now move beyond the limited term ‘Hallyu,’” emphasizing that “the next step, stage four, is complete globalization.” This statement, considered his first interview with domestic media since leaving SM, demonstrates his firm conviction. The “K-pop three-stage theory” he proposed over decades has been widely adopted as a global strategy for the K-pop industry. Stage one involved exporting K-pop overseas, stage two entailed collaborating locally, and stage three focused on creating K-pop content within those regions. This theory enabled the formation of K-pop groups composed entirely of foreigners and became the strategy followed by most major agencies. Now, Lee Soo-man is proposing an era of “Beyond K-pop.” He explained, “Although I have designed and implemented the ‘K-pop three-stage theory,’ it is now time to move toward ‘Beyond K-pop.’” He added that “both the Chinese activities of A2O’s artists and the upcoming activities in the United States and Japan are part of globalization,” explaining further that “A2O’s music is released under a new name, ‘Zalpha Pop’—music targeted at Generation Z and Alpha—rather than K-pop” for this reason. After selling his shares in SM in 2023 and departing, Lee Soo-man launched A2O Entertainment, ushering in a third chapter of his career. A2O, an abbreviation for “Alpha to Omega,” embodies the goal of having stars and fans together throughout every process from start to finish. The first debut group under A2O, A2O MAY, made its debut in December 2024 with a remake of TVXQ!’s hit song “Jumun” and initially focused its activities on Chinese-language platforms. There were concerns that A2O’s focus on the Chinese market and its large number of Chinese trainees reflected “Lee Soo-man’s China dream.” However, Lee Soo-man clarified, “My China dream is not to export K-pop to China, but to apply the technology I have developed as a musician and IT professional along with my celebrity production skills to the Chinese market.” He said, “Music has no borders, and it shouldn’t. The biggest stars emerge from the largest markets,” adding that “in addition to Chinese music platforms, A2O’s music will soon be available on Spotify, and its artists will also perform in Western countries. Our trainees come from various nationalities.” Lee Soo-man’s envisioned future can be summarized in three points: first, becoming the world’s number one entertainment company originating from Korea; second, achieving new interpretations and production through the fusion of celebrities and technology; third, ensuring that both celebrities and fans fully share these outcomes and feel happiness. To realize this, A2O plans to launch its own platform soon, aiming for a “play to create” culture where fans can recreate content while having fun.