These fans are international, explains Richard Williams, a lecturer in ethnomusicology at SOAS University of London, and have been engaging with each other online for years. Their shared obsession with K-pop idols makes it easy for them to mobilize. “There’s a long history of this community creating a safe online space for themselves, one where they can set up their own rules,” says Williams. “It’s a shared community, a shared space online—some scholars call it an affinity space, this idea of a space where you have a very, very intimate affinity with people around the world.”
That K-pop stans are adept at being heard online is no surprise—digital literacy is essential for K-pop artists and their fans across the globe. “Above all, K-pop has achieved its global prominence thanks to digital technology,” says Um. “K-pop’s success also owes a lot to Western-based social media.”
Their activism hasn’t been limited to America, either. In 2016, Taiwan-born singer Tzuyu released a video through her record label in which she apologized to her Chinese fanbase for waving a Taiwanese flag on Korean television. (China regards Taiwan as a Chinese province rather than an independent state.) The website of the label, believed to have forced Tzuyu to apologize against her will, was taken down in a DDoS attack, in which Williams believes K-pop stans played a role.
This pivot to wokeness, however, is in some senses unexpected. One of the original attractions of K-pop, Williams says, is that it was apolitical, fantastical, and removed from people’s home politics and American hegemony. Some of the community’s racial politics have also been unsavory. “There is a long history of American black music influencing K-pop. But it’s not so clear-cut. I mean, a lot of black K-pop fans get racially harassed,” he says.
Yet the K-pop community also has a sizable LGBT and minority following. “The K-pop community is very woke, which means it’s very open and educated on social and political problems, and the K-pop community is very diverse, we have people of all nationalities, people of all ages, there are millions of people from the LGBTQ+ community, we have POCs, Asian people, Hispanic people, Indian people," says Ria.
With this demographic, Trump would seem like a natural enemy. “We have all the people Trump doesn’t like. It’s not that we prefer Joe Biden, it’s that we want Trump out.”
In some sense, K-pop’s appropriation of black music may also have motivated the move. Though K-pop artists are mostly resolutely nonpolitical, says Lie, BTS donated $1 million to Black Lives Matter, which the BTS ARMY (BTS fan group) was able to match within 24 hours. “So there’s a sense of ‘giving back,’ but the more important ideological source is anti-racism,” he says.
K-pop stans also want to spread a good image for the groups in the genre. “They have always been well organized and highly motivated to promote their artists, for example by voting for their fans to win awards, sending their song requests for K-pop artists to the local radios, making their demands for K-pop CDs and merchandise to the local music retailers,” says Um. “One of the significant K-pop fan activities is fund-raising campaigns for various occasions, for example Chinese fans of BTS raised 2.25 million yuan for the BTS member V’s birthday, with the progress of online collection presented on their fan site.”
