U.S. Embassy requests HYBE Chairman Bang's travel restriction be lifted amid ongoing investigation
Published: 20 Apr. 2026, 10:52
Updated: 20 Apr. 2026, 17:18
![HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk appears at the Financial Crimes Investigation Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in western Seoul on Sept. 15, 2025. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/20/5216c1e4-d9f5-47db-81f0-2eebf81b010b.jpg)
HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk appears at the Financial Crimes Investigation Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in western Seoul on Sept. 15, 2025. [YONHAP]
The U.S. Embassy in Korea has requested that HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk, who is under investigation and subject to a travel ban for allegedly misleading investors and making nearly 200 billion won ($136 million) in personal gains, be allowed to visit the United States, according to a local report on Sunday.
The embassy sent a letter requesting cooperation to the Acting Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency Yoo Jae-seong, said the Hankook Ilbo. It reportedly asked that key HYBE executives, including Bang, CEO Lee Jae-sang and Vice President Kim Hyun-jung, be allowed to travel to attend events marking the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence on July 4 and address overseas business needs, including local coordination for BTS’s U.S. concerts as part of its ongoing world tour.
Both the police officials and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment at this time.
Bang is accused of misleading investors in 2019 by denying the company's initial public offering (IPO) plans and persuading them to sell their shares to a special purpose company linked to a private equity fund with which he was connected.
HYBE, then called BigHit Music, went public in 2020. The private equity fund sold its shares after the IPO, and Bang allegedly pocketed approximately 30 percent of the earnings, which amounted to around 190 billion won, under a pre-existing deal.
Bang has since been summoned for questioning five times by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, referred to prosecution on charges of violating the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act and placed under a travel ban.
The police on April 13 stated that "the investigation is in its final stages."
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KO SEUNG-PYO [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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