CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun and Vice Chair Lee Mi-kyung Meet with UMG Chairman Lucian Grainge

Discussing the Growth of K-culture at the U.S. KCON Site

사진 확대 CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun, CJ Group Vice Chair Lee Mi-kyung, and Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of UMG, meet at KCON LA 2026 in Los Angeles on the 16th local time. [CJ ENM]

CJ ENM said on the 20th that CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun and Vice Chair Lee Mi-kyung met with Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group (UMG), the world’s largest music company, at KCON and discussed the global growth of K-culture and the future of the entertainment industry.

According to CJ ENM, Chairman Lee, Vice Chair Lee, and Grainge met at KCON LA 2026 in Los Angeles on the 16th local time and discussed changes in the global music and content markets, as well as the expansion potential of K-culture, including K-pop.

Since the 1990s, Chairman Lee has viewed the cultural industry as a future growth engine and has continued investing in the content sector, pursuing a vision to “change people’s daily lives around the world through culture.” Vice Chair Lee has been a key figure in driving the global spread of K-content across film, music, broadcasting and other fields, based on her broad network in the global culture and entertainment industries.

In particular, KCON, launched by CJ in 2012, has grown into a global K-culture platform that showcases a wide range of Korean lifestyles, including beauty, food and content, with K-pop at its center. CJ ENM said, “This meeting is significant because it symbolizes the vision of CJ’s cultural business, which has been pursued for more than 30 years, and its global network coming together at KCON,” adding, “The fact that Chairman Grainge, who represents the global music industry, visited the KCON site in person shows the growing interest and elevated status of K-pop and K-culture as a whole within the global entertainment industry.”

Meanwhile, on July 15, Mnet’s global girl group debut project “Girls Planet 2027” and Republic Collective under Universal Music Group officially announced a partnership. The two sides plan to collaborate across the entire process, from production of the program to discover and train the next generation of global K-pop talent, to the U.S. and global activities of the final debut team.

This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.