Exception sought for HYBE chairman's US trip despite travel ban: report
HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk appears for questioning by the financial crimes investigation unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Seoul’s Mapo District, Sept.15, 2025. Korea Times photo by Kang Ye-jin
Trump's Independence Day event, BTS concerts cited in US request for Bang’s visit
It has been reported that the U.S. requested cooperation from the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) regarding a visit to the United States by HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk and other senior executives, despite Bang being subject to an overseas travel ban tied to a police investigation. Critics say the move may constitute a breach of diplomatic norms, as the U.S. allegedly bypassed formal diplomatic channels and directly singled out individuals under travel bans in a request to a foreign investigative agency.
According to an April 19 report by the Hankook Ilbo, the U.S. Embassy in Seoul recently delivered a letter to the acting commissioner general of the KNPA requesting cooperation to allow HYBE senior executives — chairman Bang Si-hyuk, CEO Lee Jae-sang and vice president Kim Hyun-jung — to travel to the United States.
The stated reasons for the their U.S. visit reportedly included attending celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of Independence Day on July 4, as well as supporting BTS during the group’s U.S. leg of its world tour. Earlier, Donald Trump announced plans for an unprecedented large-scale Independence Day event in Washington, D.C., including a Ultimate Fighting Championship event.
The complication is that Bang and Lee are both subject to overseas travel bans as suspects in a Capital Markets Act violation case. A request to facilitate Bang’s U.S. trip would, in effect, amount to asking police to seek the lifting of those restrictions. Normally, lifting a travel ban requires the Ministry of Justice to convene a review committee and make a determination following a request from the investigative agency.
K-pop boy band BTS performs during the Tokyo leg of the group's "ARIRANG" world tour at Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, April 18. Courtesy of BigHit Music
Clash with diplomatic procedures
Bang is accused of providing investors with false information ahead of HYBE’s 2019 listing, allegedly claiming there were no plans for an initial public offering and obtaining roughly 190 billion won (about $168 million at the time) in illicit gains. Police have already questioned him five times and are now conducting a final legal review. Authorities are expected to decide soon whether to seek an arrest warrant or refer the case for prosecution without detention.
The U.S. request has drawn criticism as a breach of diplomatic norms, departing from standard procedures for transmitting diplomatic communications or handling interagency coordination. It is considered highly unusual for a diplomatic mission to directly ask an investigative agency for cooperation regarding the overseas travel of a domestic criminal suspect.
Reports say the approach itself was also atypical, with U.S. officials first making the request by phone and then delivering a letter by hand. Normally, diplomatic matters or cooperation requests are coordinated through official channels such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk, right, and BTS’ RM are visit HYBE’s promotional booth at the opening ceremony of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit at Gyeongju Arts Center in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, Oct. 20, 2025. Newsis
Police are said to be particularly sensitive to the issue because a key alleged accomplice in the case left for the United States in June 2025 and has not returned to Korea. Authorities cannot rule out the possibility that Bang and others could come into contact with the alleged accomplice if they travel to the U.S.
For that reason, sources say there is strong sentiment within police that it would be difficult to respond positively to the U.S. request.
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.