"Korea is a buzz" A2O Draws 56 Ad Offers in a Day After LITE, SOUL Debuts

Lee Soo-man's return to the K-POP production scene is already paying off in the ad market. The new girl group A2O LITE and boy group A2O SOUL, both produced by Lee under his new agency A2O Entertainment, are drawing heavy interest from brands only days after their debut.

According to an industry source on Friday, the two groups debuted on October 13 and have been flooded with brand offers ever since. One senior insider at the company said 56 advertising proposals arrived in a single day on October 15, counting both groups together. "The phones are basically jammed," the source said.

A2O LITE is Lee's first new domestic girl group since he stepped back from the Korean market two years and five months ago. Their debut track "NEON" reached No. 1 on Melon's main TOP100 chart as of 3 p.m. KST on Thursday. The song first hit the top spot at 11 p.m. KST on October 14, just 29 hours after release, and has held the position since. A video of the group's debut showcase, posted on the YouTube channel M2 on October 13, pulled in 6 million views in two days.

A2O SOUL debuted the same day. Their first single "SUPERSTAR" has drawn early praise for its production quality, with much of the response pointing to the members' vocal strength and live performance. The group has also started to attract attention overseas, landing at No. 3 on China's QQ Music new release chart.

Lee appeared in person at the A2O debut showcase held on October 12 at KINTEX in Goyang, where he spoke about "Culture Technology" and the agency's new artists. It was his first official public appearance in South Korea since the CISAC World Congress in May 2024, a gap of two years and five months.

Lee sold his stake in SM Entertainment to HYBE in 2023 and agreed as part of his exit not to take part in domestic music production for three years. That non-compete clause was lifted this past February, clearing the way for his return with A2O.

The scale of the early brand response suggests advertisers see the two groups less as untested rookies and more as a bet on the producer behind them. For a market that has grown used to Lee's absence, the first days of A2O point to a fast reset of where attention, and ad spend, may be heading next.