Lee Soo-man Macron Seoul Meeting

Lee Soo-man, founder and key producer of A20 Entertainment, is expected to meet French President Emmanuel Macron during his two-day state visit to South Korea, an industry source revealed Monday.

Lee Soo-man is renowned for founding SM Entertainment, the pioneering K-pop powerhouse known for its systematic approach to idol discovery and training.

“Lee and Macron have met previously in France, and if the president meets figures from the K-pop industry, he is likely to see Lee again,” the source told The Korea Herald. “One of Lee’s affiliates, CTGA (Culture Technology Group Asia), is a music publishing company that has maintained close ties with France’s SACEM (Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music) for years. During his visit to France last year, Lee also met President Macron through CTGA.”

The French government has indicated that Macron intends to engage with key figures in Korea’s film and music sectors, particularly K-pop, acknowledging the nation’s growing global cultural influence.

A20 Entertainment stated that the meeting is “currently under internal review” and declined to offer further details.

If confirmed, the meeting would represent a reunion approximately nine months after Lee visited Paris in June of last year. During that visit, Macron invited Lee to establish an office in France and expressed a strong interest in fostering collaboration between Korean and French creators.

In early March, CTGA celebrated its 10th anniversary by hosting a songwriting camp at its studio in Cheongdam, Seoul. The event brought together 15 composers affiliated with SACEM and 15 CTGA producers.

CTGA, a global production and publishing company founded by Lee in 2015, has been instrumental in organizing multinational songwriting camps involving creators from France, Africa, China, the United States, Sweden, Japan, and Korea, thereby broadening K-pop’s musical horizons. The company’s producers also contributed to Aespa’s “Supernova,” widely recognized as a standout K-pop release of 2024.

Macron is also anticipated to meet with other prominent individuals from Korea’s entertainment industry during his visit.

This visit marks Macron’s first state visit to South Korea, and the first by a French president in 11 years. The trip, scheduled from Thursday to Friday, is expected to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two countries as they commemorate the 140th anniversary of diplomatic ties.

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