Park Jin-young Appointed Chairman of Cultural Exchange Committee; Lee Soo-man of SM Pioneers New Tech Integration Efforts

Industry giants in the K-POP sector are driving the global expansion of Hallyu and shaping its future direction. Park Jin-young, CEO of JYP Entertainment, has taken office as the first chairman of the government-established Cultural Exchange Committee, while Lee Soo-man, 73, founder of SM Entertainment, is leading the way in a new era of entertainment based on cutting-edge technology. Park Jin-young’s appointment as chairman has received special attention within the industry. It is unusual for the head of one of the leading agencies in today’s K-POP market to assume a role in a government department. In the early 2000s, when Korean music was gaining momentum across Asia, Park Jin-young was a producer who traveled to the United States alone to explore the global music market. After his self-composed title track for singer B.I.’s second album, “A Way to Avoid the Sun,” topped music shows in Korea, he concluded he had no further goals to achieve there and turned his attention to the U.S. market. Early in his journey in America, he worked on music projects in the garage of his new home alongside Bang Si-hyuk, current HYBE chairman. When JYP’s shareholders and executives expressed concerns about the risky U.S. venture, he went there personally without using company funds. He spent days creating music and traveled from morning to evening to various record labels across the U.S. to sell his CDs. As a result, his tracks made it into the Billboard Top 10. He trained artists such as Jisoo and Im Jung-hee for local debuts and established JYP’s U.S. branch. In 2009, he brought the then-popular Wonder Girls to the U.S. market. That period was marked by the financial crisis, during which Asian singers held minimal presence in the U.S. record market. Wonder Girls signed a contract as opening acts for the Jonas Brothers’ nationwide tour, following them on every concert and achieving 76th place on the Billboard Hot 100 with the English version of “Nobody.” This was a historic achievement, as it marked the first time in 30 years that an Asian singer reached the Hot 100. However, Park Jin-young’s efforts in the U.S. were later viewed by the public as failures. Wonder Girls faced disruptions in their domestic activities due to their U.S. promotions, leading to member changes and a decline in popularity. MIN of Miss A, Jisoo, and Im Jung-hee also failed to make local debuts for various reasons and had to return to Korea. Jisoo wasn’t able to debut domestically until 2015 after spending 14 years as a trainee. Yet, these trial and errors are being reevaluated today. With the success of BTS and BLACKPINK, K-POP’s globalization has accelerated, highlighting the value of the foundation Park Jin-young laid over 20 years ago to enter the U.S. market. As TWICE had 10 of their albums rank on the Billboard 200 and Stray Kids achieved seven consecutive number-one albums, securing a strong foothold in English-speaking markets, Park Jin-young has seen some compensation for his past hardships. After being appointed chairman, Park Jin-young stated that he aims to contribute to the development of Hallyu and popular culture based on his experiences in the U.S. His appointment is seen as that of an experienced leader who has hands-on industry knowledge. Meanwhile, Lee Soo-man of SM Entertainment is opening a new chapter after being inducted into the Asian Hall of Fame recently. A computer science graduate, Lee Soo-man began his career as a singer-songwriter in the 1970s and founded SM Entertainment in the 1990s, producing some of Korea’s most influential music groups such as H.O.T., Girls’ Generation, EXO, SUPER JUNIOR, and SHINee, thus sparking the Hallyu wave. He has now launched a new label, A2O Entertainment, by combining his passion for technology and entertainment. Inspired by a scene from the movie “The Matrix,” he developed a new method for creating music videos and proposed integrating AI into music production and discovery processes. He also created chatbots for celebrities under his new label. Coining the term “Culture Technology,” Lee Soo-man describes the highly systematic management ecosystem built by Korean entertainment. This structured pipeline, ranging from early discovery to years of intensive training, debut, and comprehensive marketing campaigns, is key to introducing Korea’s K-POP system to the world. Regarding the future of K-POP, Lee Soo-man believes the next goal is for K-POP to achieve “cultural localization” in English-speaking music markets. He predicts that if Korean singers can gain such explosive and widespread popularity that ranking on Billboard becomes a normal part of competition rather than an exception, the brand value of Korean culture in overseas markets will continue to grow.