Lee Soo-man, the general producer of A20 Entertainment (A2O), met with Emmanuel Macron, the President of France. The founder of SM Entertainment (SME) has been active overseas through his Singaporean company A2O after selling his shares in HYBE in 2023.
According to A2O on the 22nd, the producer met with President Macron at the Elysee Palace after a music event called the 'France Music Week Summit' held in Paris on the 20th (local time).
A2O stated that President Macron directly suggested establishing a local office to the producer and expressed a willingness to cooperate to strengthen collaboration between creators from Korea and France. The producer replied, "Thank you."
President Macron reportedly pursued specific feasibility discussions by directly directing French Minister Rachida Dati to hold consultations that day. A2O noted that this is not just a ceremonial greeting but carries significance as a symbolic starting point for collaboration between Korea and France.
The producer, introduced as 'the person who made K-pop,' was the only Asian national to participate as a speaker at the France Music Week Summit. He delivered a speech on the topic of 'protecting the rights of creators in the era of culture technology (CT) and artificial intelligence (AI).'
He said, "I imagine a world where fans become prosumers, creating content beyond being mere consumers," adding, "Fans should be able to reinterpret and remake content, participate in the creation process, and receive economic rewards as well. The rights of original creators must be strongly protected."
The France Music Week Summit is an event where over 100 leaders of the global music industry gather to discuss. Participants included Robert Kyncl, CEO of Warner Music Group; Lyor Cohen, head of YouTube's global music institutional sector; and Olivier Nusse, CEO of Universal Music France.