[Exclusive] SM Entertainment founder likely to meet Macron in Seoul: source

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

Lee is best known for founding SM Entertainment, the K-pop powerhouse that pioneered a systematic approach to discovering and training idols.

“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 plans to meet key figures in Korea’s film and music industries, particularly K-pop, in recognition of the country’s growing global cultural influence.

A20 Entertainment said the meeting is “currently under internal review” and declined to provide further details.

If confirmed, the meeting would mark their reunion roughly nine months after Lee visited Paris in June last year. While there, Macron invited him to establish an office in France and expressed interest in strengthening collaboration between Korean and French creators.

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

CTGA is a global production and publishing company founded by Lee in 2015. It has organized multinational songwriting camps involving creators from France, Africa, China, the United States, Sweden, Japan and Korea, expanding K-pop’s musical boundaries. The company’s producers were also behind Aespa’s “Supernova,” widely regarded as a standout K-pop release of 2024.

Macron is also expected to meet other prominent figures from Korea’s entertainment industry during his visit.

Meanwhile, this marks Macron’s first state visit to South Korea — 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 mark the 140th anniversary of diplomatic ties.