SM founder says AI is key, not threat, to next stage of K-pop’s global dominance

Over the past three decades, K-pop mogul Lee Soo-man has witnessed his vision of Korea as a cultural powerhouse become a reality, from founding SM Entertainment in 1995 to, more recently, launching A2O Entertainment.

Now, at a time when cultural juggernauts like Blackpink and BTS dominate the global stage, Lee imagines what comes next: a world where fans blur the lines between consumers and producers, and content becomes the currency of global communication — with AI driving the next wave of cultural evolution.

“Many people question whether AI threatens humanity or will replace humans,” Lee said in his speech at the JoongAng 60th Anniversary Global Media Conference held at the Lotte Hotel in central Seoul on September 18.

“I don’t think so. AI will not replace us; instead, it will collaborate with us, coexist with us as partners.”

In his speech themed “The Birth of a Cultural Operating System: Designing the Next Civilization with K-pop,” Lee, who has been a longtime advocate for fusing technology with K-pop, argued that fearing AI is “against the flow of time,” and urged for greater imagination.

“AI operates on the compilation of all the data we’ve accumulated so far,” Lee said. “AI, therefore, cannot create its own future, which means we’re the ones who decide what AI can create. And such prompts are crafted by human imagination and creativity.”

Lee is a pioneering figure in K-pop, spearheading the launches of many of Korea’s most iconic idols, from H.O.T., S.E.S. and BoA to TVXQ, Girls’ Generation, SHINee, EXO, Red Velvet, NCT and aespa. He left SM Entertainment following a high-profile feud over the company’s control in 2023, and subsequently launched the U.S.-based entertainment agency A2O Entertainment, and now serves as its key producer and visionary leader.

The veteran producer invented K-pop’s signature highly structured trainee system of incubating idols, from casting and training to producing and marketing. Lee named that system — which defines the K-pop industry today — “Culture Technology,” or CT.

The creation of the CT system was aimed at accelerating the process of creating pop stars for a rising generation of young consumers in the early 2000s. At the time, he asked whether Korea could flip the script of history, questioning whether cultural power could precede and drive economic strength — reversing the traditional dynamic of economic power translating into cultural influence.

Lee believes that vision has become reality today through what he described as the “three stages of K-pop evolution,” an idea he has promoted since the 2000s.

The idea begins with the first stage, where K-pop is exported as a cultural product, followed by the second stage, where the industry expands its reach by collaborating with global players, and the third stage, with the exportation of Korea’s K-pop production system overseas.

“Korea has truly become a cultural powerhouse, with numerous artists such as Blackpink, BTS, Twice and IVE active on the global stage,” Lee said, “I am truly delighted and moved to see this dynamic of ‘culture first, economy next’ become reality.”

The next challenge, Lee said, is to transcend K-pop itself — the idea that he named “Zalpha pop.”

He defines Zalpha pop as music created for and led by the Gen Z and Alpha generations, a landscape he sees as built on two pillars: celebrities and AI.

“We’re living in a time where the whole world communicates with each other through content centered on influencers, including celebrities,” said Lee. “I’d like to define this era as the era where content became the new language.”

Celebrities, he argues, remain constant as the figures who move and resonate with people, while AI transforms how content is created and consumed.

In that movement, the line between consumer and producer is blurred, meaning the role of so-called prosumers will be central, according to Lee.

“An ecosystem where prosumers create new content and run their own cultural platform will be established,” he suggested. “That platform will be more decentralized than ever, and prosumers will be the actual owners of such a platform.”

He pointed to A2O’s recent collaboration with tech company 4DV to create “Infinite Studio,” a tool that allows editors to add new camera angles and shots after only a single shoot as an example. The technology, which won the top award at the Siggraph 2025 graphics expo in August, will enable fans to create their own versions of music videos with unique angles and shots, which can be an example of how fans and artists will co-create in the future.

Looking ahead, Lee called for Korea to evolve from a cultural exporter into a global incubator for producers.

“Korea should now become the global hub for producers that fosters and attracts cultural architects across the world, going beyond its role to foster artists,” Lee stressed. “That, I believe, is the world beyond just being a cultural powerhouse — to being an architect of the next civilization.”

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]