Miky Lee Honored With Asian Hall of Fame Medal

The CJ Group vice chair received the Centennial Medal of Lifetime Achievement in Los Angeles for decades of bridging Korean culture with global audiences.

Updated on Nov. 7, 2026 in Awards

Bold flat-color editorial illustration of a bronze medallion on a ribbon against a cream and deep red field, with two distant shapes suggesting a bridge across two shores. — Miky Lee, vice chair of Korea's CJ Group, received the Asian Hall of Fame's Centennial Medal of Lifetime Achievement in Los Angeles from Lee Soo-man. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Miky Lee, vice chair of Korea's CJ Group, received the Asian Hall of Fame's Centennial Medal of Lifetime Achievement in Los Angeles. Lee Soo-man, founder of SM Entertainment, presented the medal and called her the godmother of K-culture.

Why it matters

The Asian Hall of Fame gives the medal to people it considers of strong character who have raised the bar in their industries. The recognition highlights the role of Korean media investment in bringing Korean film, music and television to audiences abroad.

The award recognizes more than 30 years of Miky Lee's work linking Korean film, music and television with international audiences. The source does not detail the specific criteria used beyond the institution's stated standard of character and industry impact.

The players

Miky Lee

Vice chair of Korea's CJ Group, Miky Lee has been a major figure in bringing Korean entertainment to global audiences, and she was an executive producer on Bong Joon Ho's Oscar-winning film Parasite.

Lee Soo-man

Founder of SM Entertainment and a key producer at A2O Entertainment, Lee Soo-man is one of the most influential figures in the development of K-pop and has been a close friend of Miky Lee for more than 50 years.

Asian Hall of Fame

The Asian Hall of Fame honors individuals it views as people of strong character who have raised the bar in their industries across Asia and the Asian diaspora.

CJ Group

CJ Group is a major South Korean conglomerate whose entertainment and media investments, including the DreamWorks deal and CGV theaters, have helped shape the country's film and music industries.

The details

Lee Soo-man presented the medal in Los Angeles and said Miky Lee had introduced him at the same event a year earlier. The honor was tied to her role in CJ's expansion, including its 1995 steering of a DreamWorks investment and the 1998 opening of CGV, Korea's first multiplex.

1995: CJ steered a DreamWorks investment.
1998: CGV, Korea's first multiplex, opened.
2012: KCON launched in the United States.
2020: Parasite became the first non-English-language film to win the Academy Award for best picture.
November 7, 2026: Miky Lee received the Centennial Medal in Los Angeles.

Culture Shift

The recognition reflects a broader rise of Korean film and music in global markets, which accelerated after Parasite became the first non-English-language film to win best picture at the 2020 Academy Awards. Korean entertainment exports have since grown alongside platforms like KCON, which launched in the United States in 2012.

Korean films, music and television that Miky Lee helped bring abroad are increasingly available to U.S. viewers through theaters and streaming. KCON events give fans in the United States a direct way to attend Korean music and culture programming.

The takeaway

Long-term investment in cultural infrastructure, such as theaters and international festivals, can open doors that later support major global successes. Readers interested in Korean entertainment can follow the institutions and events that connect it to U.S. audiences.