Kim Min Jong calls out SM CEOs for one-sidedly announcing system changes and Lee Soo Man’s resignation without discussion
Kim Min Jong, a long-time SM artist and non-executive director, criticized SM’s announcement of producer Lee Soo Man’s termination of contract.
According to Yonhap News on February 6th, Kim Min Jong sent an email criticizing the announcement of the “SM 3.0” vision to all SM employees.
Kim Min Jong insisted, “Contrary to what was announced, co-CEOs Lee Sung Soo and Tak Young Joon, stopped talking to Lee Soo Man and unilaterally made the announcement without any discussion.”
At the same time, Kim Min Jong called out the board of directors to decide on such drastic changes urgently over the Lunar New Year holiday. He also pointed out that SM had proposed a salary increase to all employees except Lee Soo Man’s office of secretary, far ahead of the salary negotiation period.
Kim Min Jong said, “I don’t think all these things are helpful to the long-term interests of SM’s shareholders as well as the SM family.”
In particular, Kim Min Jong emphasized that SM artists need Lee Soo Man’s production and capabilities. In response to claims that Lee Soo Man is no longer able to follow the trend, Kim Min Jong said, “We just need to fill in the gaps together.”
On February 3rd, Lee Sung Soo and Tak Young Joon, co-CEOs of SM, announced “SM 3.0: IP Strategy – Multi Production Center/Label System”. From SM 1.0 to 2.0, general producer Lee Soo-man has led the production of artists under a “Single Executive Producer System”. However, in SM 3.0, it will be switched to a multi-production center/label system.
The announcement reads, “Although his contract with SM as an executive producer has ended, we sincerely thank Lee Soo Man who still supports SM as a shareholder.”
Contrary to Kim Min Jong’s assertion, after the announcement of SM 3.0, SM employees on the anonymous community Blind for office workers have continued to expect new changes in SM. “SM is moving forward with good repercussions,” an employee said, contradicting Kim Min Jong.
Meanwhile, singer and actor Kim Min Jong was appointed as an outside director of BT&I, a travel agency acquired by SM.
Source: nate
