HYBE Donation Reflects Colombia’s Growing Cultural Connection to K-pop and South Korea
The South Korean company allocated 1 billion pesos to recovery efforts after the Aug. 10 earthquake. The gesture comes amid a growing K-pop presence in Colombia, with concerts by BTS and Stray Kids as the next milestones.
The HYBE donation to Colombia amounts to 1 billion pesos, about U$300,000, and will support recovery in areas affected by the magnitude 7.4 earthquake that struck western Colombia on Aug. 10, 2026. HYBE is the South Korean entertainment company behind BTS.
The funds will be channeled through HYBE America and coordinated by Fundacion Abaco, the Association of Colombian Food Banks, a nonprofit dedicated to disaster relief. HYBE said the money will cover both immediate needs and long-term reconstruction in communities affected by the earthquake, which left hundreds dead and thousands affected across 15 departments.
HYBE is the parent company behind BTS, Seventeen and Tomorrow X Together, among other acts. The company is one of the most commercially dominant forces in K-pop today, largely due to BTS, the first South Korean act to top both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard 200.
The donation builds on ties HYBE has developed with Colombia, particularly Medellin. HYBE President Bang Si-Hyuk previously took part in the Medellin Music Lab, an initiative led by the city’s mayor’s office to connect emerging musical talent with the international industry. Isaac Lee, president and CEO of HYBE America, is Colombian and oversees the company’s operations in Mexico, Miami and Medellin from that role.
HYBE donation comes amid K-pop’s growth in Colombia
The HYBE donation arrives at a moment of visible K-pop expansion in the country. BTS will perform in Colombia for the first time on October 2 and 3, 2026, at Bogota’s El Campin stadium, as part of the band’s world tour. The concerts mark the group’s return to the stage after a three-year hiatus caused by South Korea’s mandatory military service.
Separately, Stray Kids, a South Korean group formed by JYP Entertainment, a company distinct from HYBE, will make its Colombian debut on September 9, 2026, at Bogota’s Vive Claro Distrito Cultural. The concert is part of STRAYCITY, a special series of Latin American shows that also includes stops in Buenos Aires and Mexico City.
Neither visit is the first by a South Korean act in the country. K-pop has spent more than a decade building an audience in Colombia. In January 2023, NCT 127 performed for more than 10,000 people at Bogota’s Movistar Arena in its first concert in the country.
ATEEZ performed at the Coliseo Medplus that same year, and KARD had done the same in 2022 at the Royal Center as part of its “Wild Kard” tour. A.C.E. joined the list in October 2024 with a show at Bogota’s Royal House. That history, combined with the arrival of Stray Kids and BTS, points to sustained growth in local demand for the genre rather than a passing trend.
Although they belong to competing companies within the South Korean industry, the BTS and Stray Kids concerts reflect the same phenomenon: a growing Colombian audience for K-pop.
A relationship beyond entertainment
K-pop’s growth has driven a more visible cultural exchange between Colombia and South Korea, but it is not the origin of that relationship. The ties between the two countries have a much older foundation and a different nature.
Colombia was the only Latin American country to send combat troops to the Korean War (1950-1953). The Batallon Colombia, made up of thousands of soldiers, fought under United Nations command alongside South Korea and the United States. Formal diplomatic relations between the two countries were established later, on March 10, 1962.
That historical background helps explain why the current closeness between Colombia and South Korea is not limited to music or entertainment. The HYBE donation, the K-pop concerts arriving in the country, and more than six decades of bilateral cooperation are different chapters of the same relationship, one that combines historical memory with contemporary cultural exchange.