A new collaboration is born through the efforts of SM Entertainment and Jongro Haneul Education to create global arts education facility for training stars named SM Institute (SMI).

According to a Soompi report, SMI will be offering an educational program with a foundation in the industry knowledge that has made Kpop and K-culture a global phenomenon. The said institute will be providing education in various languages, including Korean, English, Chinese, and Japanese, for its local and international students in their goals to become global stars.

ESteem, the SM Entertainment affiliate, is also involved in the management and creation of SMI. It will be bringing to SMI the company’s expertise in the model, entertainer, influencer management, fashion, beauty, and lifestyle content to broaden the scope of the stars to be produced by SMI.

A memorandum of understanding has already been signed between SM Entertainment and Jongro Haneul Education in 2016. From there, the two companies have created a systematic education program and curriculum using SM’s knowhow with regards to celebrity training and content production.

More for its offline curriculum, adaptive learning technology, artificial intelligence, and state-of-the-art education will be used by the SMI to offer the best education despite these challenging social distancing times. Additionally, SMI plans to export Korea’s “ed-tech” solutions as well.

According to the president of SMI, Choi Jin Young, to become a pop culture artist, it takes an immense number of practice hours and practical training. With this, many trainees give up on their education. “SMI will be using online education actively and custom educational content and schedules to support students so that they will no longer give up on their education to become global stars.” The SMI president continued to support students further so that they can explore various paths with their talents.

Currently, SMI is preparing to open its doors in March 2021, and starting in October 2020, the institute plans to begin accepting applications from students located both in Korea and abroad. Furthermore, SMI is set to create an international branch to pioneer the “Hallyu wave” of the educational business.