SM’s CEO Lee Soo-man has a friendly talk with the Minister of Culture of Saudi Arabia about discovering local artists (with. BoA)
SM’s executive producer Lee Soo-man met with Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan Al Saud, the Minister of Culture of Saudi Arabia, who visited SM’s new building in Seongsu on June 8th.
The visit of the Minister of Culture Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan Al Saud, the Minister of Culture of Saudi Arabia this time was achieved through the relationship made in Riyadh with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture. Together with major figures from Saudi Arabia’s government, including the Deputy Minister of Culture Hamad bin Mohammed Fayez and General Supervisor of the Cultural Affairs and International Relations Rakan Ibrahim AlTouq, the Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Culture personally visited SM’s CEO Lee Soo-man, a pioneer of K-pop.
In particular, CEO Lee Soo-man and Minister Badr shared in-depth talks about ways to cooperate for the development of Saudi Arabia’s cultural industry. CEO Lee Soo-man said, “I’m looking forward to our cooperation in which we can produce Saudi Pop (S-Pop) using the CT (Culture Technology) system I created and raise talented Saudi Arabian artists to become global stars. I want to contribute to establishing a music ecosystem that young people in Saudi Arabia can enjoy.” Upon hearing Lee Soo-man’s words, Minister Badr positively expressed his welcome.
On the same day, the two also shared opinions on cultural industry projects that SM and Saudi Arabia are expected to carry out together, including hosting SM’s global concert SMTOWN LIVE in Saudi Arabia, producing video content and festival events through collaboration with Saudi Arabian production companies, creating a venue (town) to hold year-round music events and festivals, etc.
In addition, CEO Lee Soo-man discussed some ideas for building a metabus city that could contribute to the growth of Saudi Arabia’s cultural industry. He revealed his vision, saying “You can create a space where young people around the world can communicate and enjoy in the physical world of both metaverse and reality. For example, if a museum dealing with culture and history is built on a metaverse, we can attract great interest in the same museum in reality.” Minister Badr expressed his excitement and decided to continue the discussion at the suggestion of CEO Lee Soo-man.
CEO Lee Soo-man also took Minister Badr and major Saudi Arabian government figures, who showed interest in the CT system, on a company tour to introduce the LED media walls and recording studios in SM’s new building in Seongsu.
Meanwhile, CEO Lee Soo-man was appointed as the only Asian advisor for Saudi Arabia’s mega entertainment city construction “Qiddiya Project” in 2019. In March this year, he visited Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to meet with Minister of Economy and Planning of Saudi Arabia Faisal F. Alibrahim, Deputy Minister of Tourism – Princess Haifa bint Mohammed Al-Saud, and Deputy Minister of Culture Hamad bin Mohammed Fayez and discussed the vision of the metaverse market and the city’s culture future.
Source: daum
