Chapter 6 Slow Step by Step, Slow Step by Step The next day, Jin Shiming and Suzuki Taichi left early. The destination is Samsung Seoul Hospital. Today, Kim Se-myeong is going to visit his mentor, DSP's President Lee Ho-yeon, who is in the hospital. Carrying the high-end fruit gift boxes and flowers bought on the road, Jin Shiming came to a high-end ward under the guidance of the nurse. "President-nim, it's been a long time since we last met. How are you?" Jin Shiming still has great respect for Li Haoyan. Without Li Haoyan, perhaps he would not be who he is today. "Shiming, you're here." When Li Haoyan saw Jin Shiming, a friendly smile immediately appeared on his slightly haggard face and he waved at him. Jin Shiming put the flowers he bought into the vase on the bedside table, and then sat down on the chair beside the bed at Li Haoyan's invitation. Sitting next to him at a close distance, Jin Shiming could see more clearly Li Haoyan's current weakness. The pain and suffering from illness over the past year has left Li Haoyan physically and mentally exhausted, and his once powerful aura has been worn away. Today, he is more like an old man on his deathbed rather than the legendary figure who was the "double Lee" with SM's Lee Soo Man. "Thank you for your hard work over the past six months!" Li Haoyan felt somewhat guilty as he looked at the much more mature Jin Shiming.

After Li Haoyan was hospitalized due to illness, the management rights of the company were transferred to his wife and daughter. Even though they kept the good news from Li Haoyan and only reported the bad news, how could Li Haoyan be fooled so easily? DSP can be said to be a company maintained by President Li Haoyan's leadership charisma, connections and business acumen. Internally, he has to coordinate and plan all DSP artists and have a great influence on production and various decision-making rights. Externally, he has to socialize and entertain, and it is difficult for him to move forward between the chaebols such as CJ and SK. SM can still function without Lee Soo Man, but DSP is bound to collapse without Lee Ho Yeon! Li Haoyan knew that the company was in a mess and was gradually going downhill, but he really had the will but not the ability! For example, Jin Shiming was "exiled" to an island country to debut, even if he did not support it in his heart, what could he do? "It's not hard. I have to thank the company for giving me this opportunity, otherwise I would never be able to stand on the stage again." Jin Shiming shook his head. "You, do you think I'm sick and confused?" Li Haoyan's eyes flashed with shrewdness, "They just treat you as an extra and won't give you any decent resources at all. You can make a name for yourself in the island country, but it has nothing to do with the company." At this moment, Li Haoyan looked just like the heroic leader he was before he fell ill. "President Nim, you really have a keen eye!" Jin Shiming complimented him and got straight to the point, "You are someone I respect very much. I don't want to hide it from you. I plan to leave DSP after my contract expires this year." After hearing this, Li Haoyan fell into silence. After a long while, he let out a long sigh. This long sigh seemed to have taken away the last bit of Li Haoyan's ambition, making him look a little gloomy. "I'm sorry, President Nim, I have let you down!" Jin Shiming bowed his head and apologized. "Shiming, there's no one else here, so tell me some honest truth! Do you also think that DSP has no future and is doomed to fail?" Li Haoyan forced himself to sit up straight, looked at Jin Shiming and asked seriously. "From the end of the last century to the beginning of this century, SM and DSP were regarded as the two major mountains in the Korean music scene. At that time, YG and JYP were still rising stars." Jin Shiming said slowly. SM released HOT, and DSP had their rival, Crystal Boy. SM released SES, and DSP had their rival, . Later on, SM had TVXQ and Cheonjang Jihee, and DSP also had the competing bands SS501 and KARA. Until the seven-member, seven-color Rainbow, this group was initially targeted at Girls' Generation. Looking back now, the gap between the two groups is a huge one. Alas, we can only say that DSP’s ancestors were once rich! For a long period of time, DSP was barely able to keep pace with SM, preventing SM from becoming the only dominant player. In some areas, DSP is even ahead of SM, such as the film and television sector.

In 2006, DSP went public through a backdoor listing and expanded its business, including investing in and producing TV dramas, including many hits such as "Paris Lovers" and "My Girl". Let’s take a look at what SM has produced, such as “Throwing the Ball at the Ground” and “Paradise Ranch”, which can be regarded as the industry’s dark lights! By the way, there is a rumor circulating on the Internet right now that the land market has been so bad in the past two years because the dog company has shifted its main business focus back to real estate and jewelry and no longer pays attention to the entertainment industry. This is actually a complete misunderstanding. DSP's main business has always been the entertainment industry, and has nothing to do with real estate. The reason why this rumor spread was probably because DSP bought a company and changed its name to go public through a backdoor listing operation, which caused someone to make a mistake when looking up information and mistakenly took the former company's business as DSP's. "DSP has been at the forefront of the industry for a long time by learning from SM's methods," Jin Shiming said frankly, "but the industry is constantly developing, and it is difficult to achieve overtaking by just imitating!" Even a leader like SM is still exploring new paths, creating concepts, leading and pioneering. Regardless of whether the result is good or bad, at least their attitude and vision are there. On the other hand, DSP has always been following behind and copying others, and now it is living on its old capital. One step is slow, each step is slow! "In recent years, the entertainment industry in Peninsula has been in a turbulent situation of new and old succession. The top first-line groups have already reached saturation. Even if the overseas market continues to grow, it still cannot meet the overflowing resource demand." Jin Shiming continued, "The new generation cannot sit and wait for death. In order to survive, they must launch an attack on the predecessors and pull them down." "Are you saying that our DSP will be the one to be eliminated in this turbulent period?" Li Haoyan heard the implication of Jin Shiming's words. To be honest, Li Haoyan had a premonition that DSP's days would be difficult, but he did not think that DSP, which owns two top groups, SS501 and KARA, would be completely devastated. "KARA had a contract termination incident this year, and Hara announced her relationship. The group has also been active in Japan for a long time, so their local base is far less solid than Girls' Generation's." Jin Shiming analyzed one by one. "Furthermore, I have been active in Japan for the past six months, and I can feel that KARA's lead in Japan is in jeopardy." SM has previously announced that Girls' Generation will release their third full-length album "The Boys" on October 10, two days later. According to Jin Shiming's speculation, Girls' Generation has once again broken through their own limits after their successful entry into Japan. If the title song is not too bad this time, their performance will definitely be far ahead of all other girl groups. "Girls' Generation is going to be at the top!" Jin Shiming paused and added, "Topping all the active idol groups in the Peninsula!" (End of this chapter)