SM founder introduces alien-themed idols, cutting-edge technology in return to K-pop

GOYANG, Gyeonggi — After three years away from Korea’s entertainment industry, you might have expected Lee Soo-man, one of K-pop’s biggest showmen, to return with a girl group. Or a boy band.

He brought both, apparently, along with something unexpected: futuristic video technology developed in collaboration with Samsung Electronics that lets viewers step into an idol performance and watch it from any angle — which the K-pop guru ambitiously describes as potentially the most evolved form of recording.

A girl group, a boy band, a ‘Gaussian splatting’

At Kintex in Goyang, Gyeonggi, on Monday, the 15-member boy band A2O Soul and nine-member girl group A2O Lite, formed by the SM Entertainment founder’s new agency, A2O Entertainment, made their first appearances before the press at a joint debut showcase titled “Welcome to Soulite From A2O Soul A2O Lite.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly from Lee, little about the event followed the usual debut showcase format.

Beyond the unusual simultaneous introduction of a boy band and a girl group, the artists only performed, not saying a word to the press.

Instead, another newcomer shared the spotlight: 4DGS, short for “four-dimensional Gaussian splatting.”

“Photography captured a single moment in a person’s life, while video captured the passage of time and movement,” Lee said in a presentation at the beginning of the showcase. “Now, 4DGS takes that a step further, making it possible to return to the space and time in which something was recorded and view that moment from any position or angle.”

The 4DGS technology basically produces immersive virtual reality (VR) content that captures a space in 360 degrees.

Wearing a headset in a VR demonstration before the showcase led to a walk among the performing artists, standing in the middle of their formation and viewing them from behind.

Lee said that the idea started with an earlier photography technique he coined as the Matrix Camera System. Used in music videos for Girls’ Generation, SHINee, TVXQ and BoA over a decade ago, it created scenes in which the camera appeared to circle a subject suspended in midair.

This time, Lee replaced still photographs with video.

“I think this could be the ultimate form of the camera as a recording device,” he said.

Alien idols from Soulite

Following Lee’s presentation, A2O Lite and A2O Soul delivered impeccably polished performances which felt quintessentially K-pop in their precision and energy.

Yet the showcase revealed little about the artists beyond their debut songs, focusing on the company’s vision and technology rather than introducing the individual members.

Lee, a pioneering figure in K-pop, founded SM Entertainment in 1995, spearheading the launches of many of Korea’s most iconic idols including BoA, TVXQ, Girls’ Generation, SHINee, EXO, Red Velvet, NCT and aespa.

He left SM following a high-profile battle for control of the company in 2023 and subsequently established A2O Entertainment.

When he sold his SM shares to HYBE in 2023, Lee signed a noncompete agreement that barred him from participating in Korea’s entertainment industry for three years. The restriction expired in March, clearing the way for his return.

Since founding A2O Entertainment in 2024, Lee has launched the girl group A2O May in China. A2O Soul and A2O Lite are, therefore, his first two K-pop acts under the new agency.

The rookies’ performances on Monday began with a trailer introducing “ACE,” short for “A2O Cosmic Epic,” the fictional universe for the A2O groups.

The story begins on Soulite, a planet with abundant resources where residents can have anything they want.

Still yearning for something amid that abundance, the boys of A2O Soul venture to Earth “in search of soul, something that makes people want to live, such as happiness, love and passion,” according to A2O Entertainment.

A2O Soul consists of Moon, Seoha, Hansung and See-one from Korea; Lucien from Korea and the United States; Sora, Gaku and Sono from Japan; Teo, Jun, Tai, Zai, Ayden and Zet from China; and Alure from Thailand.

A2O Lite’s members, meanwhile, each have “unique colors shaped by their memories and emotions,” which blend to create new hues.

The group consists of Young, Vora and Ayune from Korea; Himeki from Japan; Xili, Merci and Aijing from China; Rada from Thailand; and Oa, who holds dual U.S. and Japanese citizenship.

Based on the ACE universe, the A2O artists may form new subunits with different member rosters.

The performance opened with a joint dance by members of both groups. A2O Lite then performed its debut single, “Neon,” an intense, bass-driven dance-pop track described as “Zalpha pop,” a genre aimed at Generation Z and Generation Alpha.

The lights then shifted to the stage to A2O Lite’s left, revealing A2O Soul. Donning navy uniforms resembling spacecraft crew, the boy band delivered its debut single, “Superstar,” a synth-pop track that the company describes as “New Synthwave,” drawing on the synthwave sound of the 1980s.

Both songs will be released on streaming platforms on Tuesday.

Yoo Young-jin, a longtime SM producer who left the company to join Lee at A2O, helped produce the music and performances for both groups.

‘What’s different?’

On Monday, Lee also introduced Blooming Talk, a new AI-powered fan communication platform. Along with connecting with the artists, fans can interact with AI avatars of the group members.

Lee said the question he had heard most often was, “What’s the difference?” — also the question he had asked himself with each innovation he introduced to K-pop.

Beyond all the technology and new innovation, Lee stressed, everything in K-pop begins with the music.

“Even the feeling that ‘this is different from existing K-pop’ must ultimately begin with the song,” he said.

But being merely different is not enough, he added, as creating something that is loved is equally important.

“So today, before you try to work out ‘What’s different?’ or ‘How is it different?’ I’d ask you to first simply let yourselves feel, ‘This is good,’” he said.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [[email protected]]