A man in a navy suit walks from backstage toward a bright stage of performers in white and black

74 and Not Done: The Emperor of K-pop Refuses to Age

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Part 3 of 7 in Lee Soo-man and A2O

Previously: Underneath Korea’s doubts about A2O’s No. 1 lies more than a decade of distrust toward China and Chinese members. (Part 2)

Whatever people say, A2O’s success shows one thing. At 74, Lee Soo-man is still the emperor of K-pop, and right now he is winning with the youngest instincts in the business.

Two weeks in the life of a 74-year-old

Lee Soo-man was born on June 18, 1952. He turns 74 this year (Wikipedia). It is the first number overseas fans react to when they watch his recent videos. Here is what this 74-year-old did in the past two weeks.

  • On Oct. 12, he walked onto the stage himself at KINTEX for a double debut show of two groups, streamed worldwide (Ilgan Sports, Oct. 12, 2026; The Korea Times).
  • On Oct. 21, in a keynote at the Sidae Forum, he said “the key to K-culture in the AI era is not technology but human wisdom” (Sidae Ilbo, Oct. 21, 2026).
  • On the day of the No. 1, he took the members to a barbecue restaurant and paid for every customer’s meal (Money Today, Oct. 23, 2026).
  • When Girls’ Generation’s Sunny posted an AI dance video of him, SM juniors from TVXQ to aespa hit “like” (Sports Kyunghyang, Oct. 16, 2026). Super Junior’s Kim Hee-chul commented: “Soo-man oppa is still going strong” (Tenasia, Oct. 16, 2026).
View this post by Sunny (@515sunnyday) on Instagram

That is passion that doesn’t age. And even more surprising than the passion is an instinct that hasn’t aged either.

Also read: K-pop News Today (Oct 26, 2026): A2O LITE's 4th Win, BABYMONSTER's 31M, RIIZE 'Insomnia'

A 30-year grammar at today’s speed

When the debut stage came out, fans wrote “The man who opened the first generation is opening the fifth, properly” and “This was K-pop, and this is what K-pop will be.” Another called it “a fifth-gen group with first-gen energy” (Xportsnews, Oct. 13, 2026). These reactions are all saying the same thing. He didn’t chase the trend. He rebuilt the grammar he spent 30 years developing, at the speed of today’s generation.

His standard was simple: “I thought about music that daughters, sons and parents would all like” (My Daily, Oct. 21, 2026). Critics said “NEON” went a different way from K-pop’s recent formula for success (The Korea Times, Oct. 15, 2026), and overseas fans said “the K-pop I remember is back” (Sports Kyunghyang, Oct. 13, 2026). Familiar to parents, new to teenagers. That is why a 74-year-old’s instinct won on the chart of the youngest listeners.

From the first generation to the fifth, he never stepped down

Years What Lee Soo-man did
1971–1980s First credited in 1971, singing backup on Yang Hee-eun’s second album; then a singer and TV host
1989–1995 Founded SM Planning in 1989, launched SM Entertainment in 1995
1996–2000 H.O.T., S.E.S., Shinhwa, BoA
2000s TVXQ, Super Junior, Girls’ Generation, SHINee
2010s f(x), EXO, Red Velvet, NCT
2020 aespa, a group that debuted alongside its own “avatars”
2024 At 72, debuted A2O MAY
2026 At 74, debuted A2O LITE and A2O SOUL; No. 1 on Melon in 29 hours

From the first generation to the fourth, his name has never been missing from the list of groups that defined each era. Now he has written it onto the first page of the fifth.

A vinyl record, cassette, CD, MP3 player, smartphone and a small glowing planet on a white shelf
Five formats, one career, and the next one glowing at the end.

At 74, preparing artists who aren’t human

He still talks about what comes next. In 2021 he said the future would be “a world of robots and celebrities, and beyond that, avatars” (News Tomato). In 2026 his company launched a service where AI avatars trained on members’ voices and traits chat with fans, and it announced real-time live talks for November and the reveal of an AI artist in December (ZDNet Korea, Oct. 21, 2026). The team due at year’s end has been reported as “Adam Band” (Munhwa Ilbo).

A 74-year-old producer is getting ready to launch an artist that isn’t a person.

So why China, of all places? The next part answers that.

Lee Soo-man and A2O · Part 3 of 7

Part 4 arrives Oct. 28.

← Part 2: The No. 1 Korea Doesn't Want to Believe: Why Fans Doubt A2O

See all parts

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