S.M. Entertainment to open hallyu museum in L.A.

Entertainment agency S.M. Entertainment, home to Girls’ Generation, Super Junior, TVXQ, SHINee, f(x) and others, announced on Thursday that it would establish a museum-entertainment complex tentatively named SMTOWN Museum.

In collaboration with S.M. Entertainment USA, the SMTOWN Museum, which will be located on Oxford Avenue in L.A.’s Koreatown, will feature an entertainment space, a Korean restaurant as well as other content related to K-pop stars including hologram displays.

“Through the remodeling of this building, we are creating a multipurpose entertainment space where people can experience a wide variety of Korean cultural content,” said an official from S.M.

“We’ve been planning for a long time to create a place where residents of Hollywood would be able to experience hallyu. However, we later decided that it was better to bring K-pop fans and tourists who were interested in hallyu to Koreatown,” the official added. “We are hoping that this new museum will become a hallyu landmark in the States.”

The exact opening date of the future SMTOWN Museum has not yet been determined.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)