San Pasqual High School welcomes a new club into its collection and it comes in the form of the Korean Culture club.

The club revolves around an abundance of multi-ethnic students coming together to celebrate one shared interest among its members, Korean pop music.

According to an online website, ladiesofcomicazi.com, KPOP, also known as Korean pop or Korean popular music, is a musical genre consisting of hip hop, pop, electronic, and R&B music. In recent years, KPOP culture has become a global phenomenon originating from South Korea but has quickly spread around the world since the beginning of the 21st century. Big groups within the genre such as BTS and BLACKPINK now dominate the music charts and have heavy influences within the music and television industries.

For San Pasqual High School students, having the Korean Culture club on campus has allowed them to connect with peers and gain new insights about a different way of life other than their own.

“It’s an opportunity for us to get to know more about Korean culture despite whatever ethnicity we are,” San Pasqual senior and club member Illiana Olea said.

The club also acts as a stress reliever for some students.

“It’s a way to connect with people and learn a new culture and language. It’s very therapeutic,” student club member Marissa Suarez said.

Elizabeth Rivera, San Pasqual junior and club founder said that the focal point of starting the club was to create something new and fresh that brought together anybody interested in KPOP music all together in one place.

“Our [club] mission is to bring together people with the same music taste and same interests…three times a month we get together and we either get into dance groups or we play fun games that have to do with music from different artists or we talk about different Korean topics,” Rivera said.