SM Entertainment To Open USA SMTOWN Location On Street Newly Named In Their Honor
SM Entertainment has become the first K-Pop agency to have an American street named in their honor, and they plan to make the most of it by opening their first USA SMTOWN location.
As of November 6, there’s a newly named intersection in Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles City Council announced today that the intersection of 6th Avenue and Oxford Avenue is officially named “SM Entertainment Square”. The square sits right on the edge of Los Angeles’s own Koreatown neighborhood, which is filled with Korean restaurants, skin care stores, and more.
According to an SM Entertainment official, the intersection was named “SM Entertainment Square” to commemorate the remarkable contributions and achievements that founder Lee Soo Man and the agency have made in K-Pop’s rise to fame. In particular, SM Entertainment has also played a strong role in promoting Korean culture to the 4 million residents of Los Angeles.
This is the first time any street in the USA has been named after a Korean entertainment industry, making “SM Entertainment Square” an impressive accolade for SM Entertainment. In a statement, Los Angeles’s Korean consul general Park Kyung Jae revealed his hopes for SM Entertainment Square to become “a hub of Korean entertainment in LA“—and the company is already planning to make that a reality by opening a new SMTOWN location there!
Just like Times Square in New York, I expect ‘SM Square’ to attract young people from all around the globe.
— Park Kyung Jae, Consul General of the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles
Named SMT LA, the entertainment complex will be used to promote Korean culture and lifestyle to residents and tourists alike. This will be the agency’s first USA location, but if it’s successful, it could be the first of many.
Shortly after the announcement, members of NCT recorded a thank you message to city councilman Herb Wesson for his consistent commitment to the Korean community of Los Angeles.
We want to say a huge thank you to @HerbJWesson for always advocating and supporting the Korean community in Los Angeles! We hope to visit SM Entertainment Square soon 💚 pic.twitter.com/YxBm5nvc7N
— SMTOWNUSA (@SMTOWN_USA) November 6, 2020
We want to express our respect for the innovative contributions that SM Entertainment and executive producer Lee Soo Man have made to the music industry while leading K-pop onto the world stage.
— Herb Wesson, Los Angeles City Councilman
