Meet the ‘King of K-pop’: This U.S.-educated computer engineer pioneered music industry practices that fueled the genre’s global expansion

fortune.com/2025/11/02/king-of-kpop-lee-soo-man-sm-entertainment-korea-music-industry

Lee Soo Man resisted the title at first. “King of K-pop” sounded too brash, too nightclub-esque — like something you’d see on a neon sign in Itaewon, a nightlife neighborhood in the South Korean capital Seoul once popular with U.S. soldiers and foreign visitors. “I asked them, ‘Couldn’t…

This story appeared on fortune.com, 2025-11-02 15:15:08.
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