Kakao Entertainment co-CEO Jang Yoon-joong selected Billboard's "2026 Global Power Players."

*This content was translated by AI.

Kakao Entertainment (co-CEO Kwon Ki-soo, Jang Yoon-joong, hereinafter Kakao Entertainment) co-CEO Jang Yoon-joong was selected as the 2026 Billboard's Global Power Players.

Billboard, a U.S. music media outlet, announced the "2026 Billboard Global Power Players" on the 9th (local time in the U.S.), including co-CEO Jang Yoon-joong of Kakao Entertainment. It is to select influential non-U.S. leaders who lead the global music market. Co-CEO Jang Yoon-joong has been selected five times since 2021 and has been recognized for his contribution to expanding the base of K-pop in the global music market.

Co-CEO Jang Yoon-joong was highly praised for his performance in diversifying artists' global activities, expanding music IP, and leading the exchange of the K-pop industry in cooperation with global partners. Co-CEO Jang Yoon-joong has enhanced Kakao Entertainment's music business capabilities, which encompasses the planning, production, distribution, and streaming of music IP, to increase its competitiveness in the global market.

Based on Kakao Entertainment's world's largest K-pop music library and music distribution network, it has introduced various genres of K-pop to music fans around the world, expanded artists' areas of activity, and led the expansion of K-pop's global fandom. It is contributing to expanding the influence of the K-pop industry as a whole by laying the foundation for not only its label artists but also competent artists from various genres to be active in the global market.

Kakao Entertainment labels and SM Entertainment artists continue to make progress by accelerating overseas activities such as major global festivals, world tours, and local albums. Artists including Starship Entertainment's boy group MONSTA X, girl group IVE, and Idam Entertainment's WOODZ are attracting global fans' attention on a large-scale world tour this year. In particular, IVE is expanding its presence as a trend-leading icon by reaffirming its position in major regions of the world through its second world tour "SHOW WHAT I AM" after its debut.

Kakao Entertainment recently announced a new co-CEO nominee and said it will focus more on global and platform businesses centered on IP. Co-CEO Jang Yoon-joong plans to put more weight on securing mega-IP and global expansion. It will materialize the global roadmap for all Kakao Entertainment business areas such as music, story, and media, and actively seek new business opportunities for future growth. The plan is to create strong synergy by combining Jang Yoon-joong's extensive global enterprise industry network, IP business know-how, new co-chairman nominee Ko Jung-hee's AI, and insights into the IT industry.

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*This content was translated by AI.