Lee Soo-man bought dinner for every customer at a popular barbecue restaurant in Seoul to celebrate A2O LITE’s first music show triple crown.
On October 22, Eyes Magazine posted a video filmed at a well-known grilled meat restaurant near Yaksu station, reporting that “Lee Soo-man treated the whole restaurant” in a move locals call ringing the “golden bell.” In the video, the A2O Entertainment key producer and visionary leader tells the crowd to “eat a lot,” prompting customers to cheer and chant his name, “Lee Soo-man! Lee Soo-man!” He answers with both arms raised and a bright smile.
Eyes Magazine said Lee arranged the celebration to mark the successful closing of his “Age Forum” on October 21 and A2O LITE’s rise to No. 1 on music shows.
The nine-member girl group took its debut song “NEON” to the top of MBC M’s “Show! Champion” on October 21, between its first win on SBS Life’s “The Show” on October 20 and a win on Mnet’s “M Countdown” on October 22, completing a triple crown. “NEON” had topped the Melon TOP100 roughly 29 hours after release.
The dinner followed Lee’s return to Korean production: he sold his SM Entertainment shares to HYBE during the 2023 management dispute under a three-year non-compete that ended in February. He founded U.S.-based A2O Entertainment in 2024, debuted Chinese-member group A2O MAY, and launched A2O LITE alongside the 15-member boy group A2O SOUL on October 13.
