Did K-Pop Fans Help Get Chile’s New President Elected?

Gabriel Boric, 35, became the youngest president elected in the history of Chile on Sunday (December 20). And some people are wondering if he got a little help from an online coalition of K-pop fans, who have been known to have a substantial impact on politics over the last couple of years.

According to La República, Boric is reportedly extremely popular with K-pop fans on social media. Apparently, a pro-Boric Twitter account known as @KpopersporBoric actively campaigned for the new president-elect. This included getting Boric to pose with K-pop photocards (also called PCs) and other merch. They refer to Boric supporters as “Bories.”

In 2019, Chile’s Ministry of the Interior blamed the country’s protests on “international influences and media,” including K-pop fans. According to a report the Ministry released at that time, they investigated if K-pop was behind the protests in Chile.

When Boric won the presidency, K-pop fans started a Lightstick Challenge and asked people to send in photos of themselves using a lightstick to celebrate Boric’s victory.

They also created a Spotify playlist so people could celebrate with some music.

In recent years, it’s been said that K-pop fans have mobilized online to help promote causes like human rights and racial justice. They also have been linked to shutting down a Dallas Police Department scanner by flooding it with “fancams.” Then, of course, there’s that time they pranked the Donald Trump campaign by requesting over a million tickets to an Oklahoma rally, making the campaign believe the turnout was going to be massive. Only 6,200 people showed up.

We’re sure K-pop fans did everything they could to help Boric win the presidential election, but we’d like to think other supporters, too, like actor Pedro Pascal, pulled in some votes for the new president. That photo of Pascal wearing a shirt of Boric wearing a shirt of Pascal wearing a Boric campaign shirt is pretty epic.