Lee Soo-man "SM Named After Me, Closing an Era Today"... Kakao Inaugural General Meeting

SM Entertainment Regular Shareholders' Meeting on the 31st

The era of SM Entertainment without Lee Soo-man has begun. The SM acquisition battle, which ended with Kakao Entertainment's victory, has concluded with a reshuffle of the management team.

On the 31st, SM held its regular shareholders' meeting at its headquarters in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, and approved agenda items including the appointment of internal and external directors. The appointments of three internal directors (Jang Cheol-hyeok, Kim Ji-won, Choi Jeong-min), five external directors (Kim Gyu-sik, Kim Tae-hee, Moon Jeong-bin, Lee Seung-min, Jo Seong-moon), and two other non-executive directors (Lee Chang-hwan, Jang Yoon-joong) were approved. These are individuals recommended by the current board, which has partnered with Kakao Entertainment.

Jang Cheol-hyeok, the new internal director and SM CFO, is a certified public accountant. When HYBE, allied with former SM chief producer Lee Soo-man, attempted to acquire SM, Jang was at the forefront opposing the move, arguing that "the merger with HYBE does not present clear strategic synergy." The current management, including co-CEOs Lee Sung-soo and Tak Young-joon, ended their terms on this day, and CFO Jang was appointed as the next CEO. The other new internal directors are Kim Ji-won, head of SM's Marketing Center, and Choi Jeong-min, head of SM's Global Business Center.

The new external directors appointed are Kim Gyu-sik, chairman of the Korea Corporate Governance Forum; Kim Tae-hee, lead attorney at Pyeongsan Law Firm; Moon Jeong-bin, professor of business administration at Korea University; Lee Seung-min, partner attorney at Peter & Kim Law Firm; and Jo Seong-moon, CEO of Chartmetric. The two newly appointed other non-executive directors are Lee Chang-hwan, CEO of Align Partners Asset Management, and Jang Yoon-joong, vice president of Kakao Entertainment.

As expected, with the completion of the management change, there is talk that Kakao Entertainment's coronation has taken place. Kakao Entertainment, the largest shareholder with 39.87%, recently heated up the securities market with a fierce acquisition battle against HYBE. The competition for shares sparked a surge, with SM's stock price briefly exceeding 160,000 KRW. It was even designated as a stock requiring investment caution. After HYBE ultimately gave up on the acquisition, the stock price fell below the 100,000 KRW level.

Meanwhile, former chief Lee Soo-man, who had drawn attention regarding his attendance, ultimately did not participate. Lee, who stated he is currently abroad, sent a letter to the press saying, "SM, which was founded bearing my name, will close one era today," and added, "Now K-pop must evolve beyond K-pop into global music that connects with the world." The era of SM without Lee Soo-man has begun. It has been reported that Lee Soo-man's name was omitted from the credits of recently released albums by Kai and Onew, fueling talk that the 'erasure of Lee Soo-man' has already started.