Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Why BTS Army and other K-pop fans and TikTokers are aiming at Donald Trump with their activism

Fans of the South Korean soft power export have banded together to troll the US president and champion Black Lives Matter. Analysts say most of these fans are politically aware, liberal and masters of social media



Fans of K-pop have stepped into the spotlight as a political force, after claiming credit for derailing expectations of massive crowds for US President Donald Trump’s latest campaign rally and throwing their support behind the Black Lives Matter movement.

Thousands of K-pop fans and other social media users encouraged their followers on Twitter and TikTok to register for tickets for Trump’s Saturday appearance in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and then not show up – a prank that appears to have fuelled wildly inflated predictions of a huge turnout.

After Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale last week announced the event had received more than 1 million requests for tickets, the president ended up speaking at a 19,000-seat venue that was more than two thirds empty.

His campaign blamed the poor turnout on “radical protesters” – though few were reported at the scene – and the media scaring supporters away. Among the Democrats greeting the images of empty seats with glee was New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who thanked Generation Z “zoomers” and K-pop allies for their “contributions in the fight for justice”.

In South Korea, K-pop idols are known for their saccharine image rather than their stance on politics, but the emergence of socially aware bands such as BTS is transforming perceptions of the industry.

And while K-pop fans are known as the rallying force behind sold-out concerts and No 1 songs, the world has only recently taken notice of their political clout.

“From what I’ve seen these past few years, our fandom is extremely politically engaged,” said Adaeze Agbakoba, a 21-year old African-American BTS fan in Washington. “This is due to the fact that our fandom has the most diverse demographic in all of K-pop.

“Our numbers are in the tens of millions, and many polls and analyses have shown that the majority [of those in the BTS Army, as the group’s fans are known] are actually between the ages of 18 and 30.

“So most of us are at the very least university students and at the most working citizens who are old enough to vote, and are most likely educated on political topics and keeping up with the daily news.”

But why target Trump? Michael Hurt, a Korean-American visual sociologist and lecturer at Korea National University of Arts in Seoul, said K-pop fans tended to be more liberal and supportive of civil rights movements.

“[They have an] allergy to the boomer modes of political attack, avoidance of responsibility, and [old-fashioned] attitudes that Trump represents,” he said. “K-pop fandom, which is international, young, and digitally activated, has a lot of demographic overlap with the kind of people who are going to be most averse to Trump’s [discriminatory] messages.”

More importantly, Hurt added, these digital natives know how to do a “digital hit job” better than anyone else in the world. “No one else is able to do a complete digital assassination of Trump’s interests online than BTS’ fandom. So this makes a lot of sense.”


Earlier this month, BTS and its record label Big Hit Entertainment donated US$1 million to Black Lives Matter, after announcing they “stand together” against racial discrimination.

Within days, fans of the group – which addressed the United Nations in 2018 with a speech encouraging young people to stand up for their convictions – more than matched that sum with donations to Black Lives Matter and other advocacy groups.

“I think BTS’ 2018 speech at the UN really comforted us,” said Sterre Brouwer, a 15-year old BTS fan based in the Netherlands. “I watch their speeches whenever I feel bad about myself and I feel like it inspires us to do more.”

At the height of the Black Lives Matter protests in early June, K-pop fans claimed responsibility for crashing an app used by the Dallas Police Department through which the public could submit videos of suspicious behaviour, by flooding it with video clips of their favourite idols.

In May, they piled on the #WhiteLivesMatter hashtag, hoping to drown out right-wing and racist messaging about the anti-police brutality protests.


Before they became known for overt political activism, K-pop fans had already mastered social media as a tool for connecting with peers and promoting their idols – including defending them from criticism and ridicule. Last year, Australian broadcaster Channel Nine was forced to issue an apology after a segment poking fun at BTS and its fan base provoked the ire of fans and saw the hashtag #Channel9Apologise go viral.

“Most of us know what it feels to be discriminated against, so I think seeing that [happen] to our favourite artists makes us even more passionate to fight for equality and support the Black Lives Matter movement,” said Brouwer, the Dutch fan, pointing to the large number of people of colour and LGBT+ people within K-pop fandom.

CedarBough T. Saeji, visiting assistant professor in the department of East Asian languages and cultures at Indiana University, said K-pop fans had developed a sophisticated grasp of social media through years of “campaigns to increase views on a video, request songs be played on the radio, or promote a new release”.

“All of those methods of organising are handled with a remarkable understanding of how online systems work – for example, how to increase Spotify or YouTube plays without being flagged by the platform as junk plays is discussed and analysed,” Saeji said.

Amid long-standing criticism that the K-pop industry has appropriated and profited off African-American culture, the rise of Black Lives Matter has also seen a growing number of Korean artists acknowledge their influences and aspire to allyship.

Rappers pH-1 and Jay Park have donated to Black Lives Matter and the George Floyd Memorial Fund, while CL – who also donated to the causes – recently posted a lengthy note on Instagram on the importance of supporting Black Lives Matter.

“Artists, directors, writers, dancers, designers, producers, stylists in the K-pop industry are all inspired by black culture whether they acknowledge it or not,” wrote the K-pop rapper. “We must stand up and help them fight for justice.”

For fans like Agbakoba, that sense of solidarity and appreciation of diversity is key to K-pop’s appeal.

“I do think the diversity helps with things like this a lot,” she said. “Because in the [BTS] Army fandom, for example, you’ve got people with political knowledge and people with knowledge on social media. Mix the two together, and you get what we’ve been witnessing since these protests have started. A threat [to the system].”




Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×