EXO's debut with twelve members has nothing on SM Entertainment's next act.
The next act from SM Entertainment will have an "unlimited" amount of members, according to the company's founder Lee Soo Man. During Wednesday's presentation of "SMTOWN: New Culture Technology 2016," Lee announced an idol group named NCT (Neo Culture Technology) and will be made of numerous project subunits that will be able to work together throughout the world.
NCT's first unit will debut in the first half of this year and promote in Seoul and Tokyo, while other teams are set to debut in cities around China later this year. Other units are planned for Southeast Asia and South America as SM Entertainment seeks to grow its presence internationally.
The concept of NCT is similar to that of Japanese groups, like AKB48 and SKE48, that have rotating, unlimited amounts of members that perform at local theaters throughout the years, bringing the musicians to the audiences on a schedule rather than just occasional concerts.
SM Entertainment previously denied that its next boy band would have 24 members.
The music label has been one of the most prominent creators in the K-pop industry and already houses large acts like Super Junior and EXO.
NCT's concept isn't the first time that SM Entertainment has planned for rotating members. In 2005, Super Junior '05 debuted with the plan for members to join and leave overtime through so-called graduations. Due to the popularity of the original twelve members, SM announced that Super Junior would no longer be a rotational project group and added a thirteenth member, Choi Kyuhyun, to create the final line-up.
The unlimited boy band NCT will be SM Entertainment's first male group since EXO in 2012, who formerly debuted as EXO-M and EXO-K with each group focusing on promotions in China and Korea respectively. NCT will be SM's first idol group since the 2014 debut of Red Velvet.
The goal of NCT is to localize K-pop to the world, as the next step in Lee Soo Man's vision for the agency he founded in 1989.
Units will perform in different languages, and be created in collaboration with local companies.
"We will truly localize Hallyu through this activity," eNewsWorld reported Lee saying. "SM Entertainment will actualize its long-held dream of a 3-step Hallyu project this year. We wish we can look back on this moment and smile in 20 years in 2036.
Watch some of NCT's Debut teasers right HERE:
Tamar Herman is a multi-media journalist and the co-founder of KultScene. She is a freelance writer and copy editor, and has written for MTV Iggy, Noisey, and Paste Magazine.
