SM Entertainment honored with export and service awards at Trade Day ceremony

SM Entertainment received both the $100 million Export Tower Award and Service Tower Award at the 62nd Trade Day ceremony on Thursday, becoming the first entertainment company to receive both honors, the K-pop powerhouse said Friday.

SM Entertainment Co-CEO Jang Cheol-hyuk, right, receives the $100 million Export Tower Award during the 62nd Trade Day ceremony held at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Dec. 4. [SM ENTERTAINMENT]

SM Entertainment received both the $100 million Export Tower Award and Service Tower Award at the 62nd Trade Day ceremony on Thursday, becoming the first entertainment company to receive both honors, the K-pop powerhouse said Friday.

SM Entertainment is the first K-pop entertainment company to receive the $100 Million Export Tower award. It recognizes the agency’s decades of experience as a pioneer in K-pop, consistently expanding overseas exports through global music, content and IP businesses, SM Entertainment said.

“This is a moment of recognition for our 30 years of efforts in contributing to the global spread of K-pop,” said SM Entertainment Co-CEO Jang Cheol-hyuk, who attended the ceremony on Thursday at Coex in Gangnam District, southern Seoul. “As a global company leading the globalization of K-content, we will continue to take on greater challenges and innovate.”

The Trade Day ceremony, hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resource and organized by the Korea International Trade Association, is an event to reward export companies and individuals who have contributed to the national economic growth.

It began in 1964 to commemorate the government's achievement of $100 million in exports, and the Export Tower Awards are awarded to companies that have achieved export performance of over $1 million annually.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]