SM Entertainment has just announced that they will introduce a new K-pop boy band called NCT, which is an abbreviation of Neo Culture Technology. The talent agency is home to successful K-pop groups Super Junior, Girls' Generation and f(x).
On Jan. 27, a press event was held at SMTOWN in Coex Artium, Seoul. SM Entertainment founding chairman and producer Lee Soo-man told reporters that he has five new projects for the new K-pop boy band.
"We will unveil some members who will be based in Seoul in the first half of this year and other members who will target K-pop fans in Beijing and Shanghai in the second half," The Chosun Ilbo quoted Lee as saying. The NCT members are said to sing the songs in different languages.
the first stage of the Korean wave called hallyu involved the development and exportation of cultural content followed by the second stage, in which local entertainment companies engaged in collaborations.
Lee added that he will establish the joint entertainment firm with local companies in the third stage of hallyu before passing down his strategy. He explained that for the last two decades, SM Entertainment has been developing core culture technologies, which include casting, training, producing and marketing.
These culture technologies have been converged and extended into NCT. With its unique producing system, SM Entertainment SM also produces music videos, fashion and choreography contents that dominate the music market in an international level.
In 2005, Lee formed Super Junior with 12 members, including Cho Si-won, who went on to star in the 2015 film "Dragon Blade" with Jackie Chan. Kyuhyun was added as the 13th member in 2006.
In 2007, Girls' Generation members Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona and Seohyun officially debuted with the single "Into the New World." They also entered the Japanese music scene in 2011.
In 2009, SM Entertainment formed f(x), which consists of Amber Liu, Krystal Jung, Luna and Victoria Song, who is set to star in "Ice Fantasy." Song's co-star in the Chinese drama series is Chan and Choi's "Dragon Blade" co-star Feng Shaofeng.
In Lee's third-stage plan, SM Entertainment will form boy bands under the name of NCT with members from various countries singing the same song in different languages, according to Korea Times. Some members are showcased in this video:
