Former executive producer of SM Entertainment, Lee So Man, remained silent about questions on SM’s “management rights dispute”.
On the afternoon of February 14th, at the Hyatt Hotel in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, the Korean-Mongolian Economics Dinner was held. On this day, former general manager of SM Entertainment, Lee Soo Man, attended with the assistance of SM singer and actor Kim Min Jong. Actors Yoon Da Hoon and Lee Jae Ryong were also present.
This is the first official schedule of Lee Soo Man after the SM management rights dispute broke out. Here, the former general manager, who recently suffered an arm fracture, entered the event with the support of Kim Min Jong. It is known that Lee Soo Man recently returned to Korea on February 7th, and was hospitalized at a hospital in downtown Seoul for a fractured arm.
As it was the first official appearance of former general manager Lee Soo Man, a lot of attention was focused on his words. However, Lee Soo Man left the event in silence when asked by reporters who were waiting at the hotel entrance about the SM management dispute.
On the same day, Lee Soo Man gave a keynote speech at the dinner on the theme of “The Role of Kpop and Hallyu for the Future Earth”. In the speech, the former general manager said that he had created and pioneered Kpop for the past 30 years, and has been with the history of K-pop and Hallyu all his life. “Now, we are connecting the hearts of people around the world as one, transcending regions and borders, generations and ideologies”, he said.
Lee Soo Man also affirmed that Kpop and Hallyu “will be a new vision to save the earth.” At the same time, he also added, “The world is now in an era of carbon neutrality in which we must overcome the global climate crisis and realize sustainability. A sustainable future is a common agenda for mankind”, he added
Meanwhile, Lee Soo Man and HYBE are in conflict with the current SM management, who is siding with Kakao.
On February 10th, HYBE announced that it had signed a contract to acquire 14.8% of SM Entertainment shares, owned by former executive producer Lee Soo Man, the agency’s founder, for 422.8 billion won. As a result, HYBE became the sole largest shareholder of SM Entertainment.
In the meantime, SM Entertainment is experiencing an infighting over the resignation of Lee Soo Man, the major shareholder.
Source: Daum
