Source: The Joongang via Naver
Article talks about an internal debate occurring within SM following Lee Soo Man’s exit from the company, with one side saying the company needs Lee Soo Man’s vision for the company and the other side saying that it’s time SM moves away from his past glory days.
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1. [+792, -14] If Lee Soo Man tried to pull what he did by forming his own subsidiary company and siphoning off 20 billion won a year into it in the US, he would’ve been sued and forced to owe an astronomical amount of money. His company was essentially a private safe for a public company. Would he still have given that company 20 billion won a year if it had not been his own? ㅋㅋ
2. [+692, -7] Lee Soo Man set up a subsidiary company that he owns 100% stake in and moved all of the workload to that company instead of letting the staff at SM handle it. It made 160 billion won over the course of a few years. If any other company had pulled this, the CEO and his staff would’ve all been thrown in jail for malpractice. What was his end game in all of this? Make all his own money while leaving his staff out to dry? The grandpa got too greedy!
3. [+244, -15] Lee Soo Man is not someone anyone should be defending… tsk tsk. His “vision” is not worth the tens of billions that was being siphoned off to his own company.. wake up, people.
4. [+150, -2] Honestly, seeing the newer groups like Le Sserafim, IVE, and New Jeans makes you realize how behind Aespa is in terms of that “vision”. All that mess about Kwangya… Min Jong hyung, I get that you’re a loyal man but you shouldn’t be basing business decisions off of your loyalty to him.
5. [+145, -2] There is no one who would deny that Lee Soo Man is a talented producer. But he’s now an elder in his 70s and he doesn’t have the vision for these things like he used to. You have to admit that SM has been lagging behind as we enter the fourth generation of idols. I’m sure internal staff are more aware of it than we are. And after hearing the new Got the Beat song, Yoo Young Jin needs to leave SM right after Lee Soo Man. The idol industry is so sensitive to trends and there’s just no room for the visions of men in their 70s and 50s anymore. Part of being an adult is knowing when you’re no longer relevant and should step down.
6. [+67, -3] Too old, he’s lost his sense. That’s why SM’s still sitting here crying about Kwangya. Watch New Jeans and learn a thing or two from them.
7. [+66, -2] If SM had not put in all those useless Chinese members, they would’ve fared better in terms of all the scandals they’ve been riddled with.. Not sure what’s up with their China obsession anyway..
8. [+62, -1] It’s like some people still don’t understand why Aespa and Got the Beat were such flops ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Unless SM kicks out Lee Soo Man and Yoo Young Jin for good, they’re going to continue to flop forever. Actually, SM is already a flop at the moment.
9. [+56, -1] The way I see it, BoA needs to step down faster than Lee Soo Man. Her taste is too outdated, she’s still living in the past.
10. [+56, -1] Lee Soo Man should’ve been less obvious with the siphoning, how did he think he was going to get away with taking 1/3 of SM’s profits?
11. [+51, -1] SM has reached their limit… especially with having their new idols remaking songs of their old idols and redoing concepts they’ve already done..
12. [+47, -3] Does anyone have a memorable song out of SM’s recent releases? They have all those talented kids and yet they’ve done nothing… Lee Soo Man has lost his touch.
13. [+42, -1] If SM is going to fail without Lee Soo Man, then they deserve to fail
14. [+35, -1] Lee Soo Man took 1/3 of SM’s profits for the past 10 years ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ if you’re a kid who doesn’t know why this is funny, just go to bed ㅋㅋㅋ
15. [+32, -1] Next Level, Kwangya~~ I still have no idea what this means… Zimsallabam???? Huh? Please stop with these lyrics
16. [+28, -1] Lee Soo Man was always greedy and his abuse of power was never a good thing for the industry. Back in SM’s glory days, he would force SM groups to perform at the end of every year-end ceremony and threaten to boycott if they didn’t get it. He strongarmed dramas and movies into casting SM singers as leads, taking away jobs from actual actors just to end up with dramas with flopping viewer ratings. Of course, their terrible idol actors still won daesangs in the end.
17. [+27, -0] Celebrities who never should’ve become producers: BoA, Rain, Im Chang Jung
18. [+22, -1] No one cares whether the company needs Lee Soo Man or not. What matters here is that he has been taking money from the company in an unethical manner.
19. [+21, -1] Kim Min Jong’s only defending Lee Soo Man because once he gets kicked out, all of the directors who were in on it with Lee Soo Man siphoning money out are going to get fired and there goes Kim Min Jong’s job with them
20. [+21, -2] I figured it was over for SM once I saw NCT performing ‘Candy’
21. [+19, -1] Feels like SM has just been remixing their old songs these days… feels outdated, just like how Japan’s ‘Kohaku Uta Gassen’ feels outdated because of their reluctance to change… I’m also tired of how SM producers idols who sing in that same old style
22. [+17, -1] If a company is on the brink of failure because of one person leaving, that does not mean that that person is important… it means that person has been mismanaging the company
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