SM Institute (SMI) is an international art educational institution located in Jung District, Seoul. Through the memorandum of understanding signed by SM Entertainment and Jongro Haneul Education, it was founded in 2021. The institution provides academic programs focused on fostering talents based on K-pop and K-culture.
History
SM Entertainment and Jongro Haneul Education have developed a culture technology (CT) education program focused on SM's celebrity discovery and cultural content production expertise over the past three years since the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two companies in 2016.[1] On September 9, 2020, SM and Jongro announced that they had established SM Institute, an international art education institution.[2] SMI began accepting applications in late 2020 for the initial class, which started in March 2021, and prepared for its global expansion at the beginning of 2021, with its second establishment in Los Angeles and succeeded across major cities in Asia.[3] SME then announced its partnership with Advantages Digital Learning Solutions (ADLS) with Choi Jin-young, SMI president, grasping the prospect of online learning through the affiliation so that students won't have to give up their education to become global stars and have a broad scope of probable pathways for their talents.