KOREA FOUNDATION

Cuba: 193rd Nation to Establish Diplomatic Ties with Korea

On February 14, 2023, Korea and Cuba began their diplomatic relations. Cuba is the 193rd nation to set up formal ties with Korea. Presently, Korea has diplomatic relations with all UN members except Syria.

Cuba is home to about 1,100 Korean descendants who migrated from Mexico in 1921. It took a long 103 years since the first group of Koreans settled in Cuba for the two countries to establish diplomatic ties.

In 1905, a group of Korean migrant workers arrived in Mexico. About 10 years later, some left for Cuba and settled about 100 kilometers away from the capital of Havana, in El Bolo, Matanzas Province, becoming the first ethnic Koreans to live in Cuba. During the early 20th century, Matanzas also served as the basis for fundraising efforts by the Korean community to support Korea’s independence from Japanese colonial rule.

Since long before the two countries set up formal ties, the KF has been contributing to the improvement of Cuba-Korea relations by conducting a number of private academic and cultural exchanges. In 2013 in particular, the Korean television series Queen of Housewives was broadcast by Canal Habana, Cuba’s public television channel, with the KF’s support, arousing enthusiastic responses from viewers and sparking a Hallyu boom in the Caribbean country.

In October 2012, the KF opened Korean language classes at the University of Havana, Cuba’s most prominent institute of higher learning, in response to an increase in the number of Cubans learning Korean. The establishment of formal ties between the two countries is largely attributed to the support of Cuban people interested in Korean culture and language.

Korea Festival in MIKTA: Fusion gugak performance in Cuba (2015)

Korean fusion gugak and jazz performance held in the US and Cuba (2019)

Cuba Matanzas Province El Bolo Queen of Housewives University of Havana