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 Fans of Korean pop artists,
including the widely popular BTS, have rallied
around major U.S. political movements in recent
weeks, using their online communities and mobile
apps to encourage participation and donations.
K-pop fans and users of TikTok, a popular
video-sharing app, claimed partial credit for
inflating attendance expectations at a
less-than-full arena at U.S. President Donald
Trump's rally in Oklahoma over the weekend.
Earlier this month, they waded into social media
protests against racism and police brutality,
with BTS fans matching the band's $1 million
donation to Black Lives Matter (BLM).
"The mobile-based communication channels
favoured by the millennial generation provide an
effective means to quickly spread their
political voices and mobilise support," said
Jung Duk-hyun, a South Korean culture critic.
The donation to BLM fits with a long history of
BTS and other groups donating to social and
humanitarian causes, including supporting Syrian
refugees and efforts to stop violence against
children.
But the incident with Trump's campaign rally
sparked new debates among fans in South Korea,
who don't appear to have been significantly
involved in that effort. Young South Korean
artists rarely get involved with their country's
politics, and many fan forums ban political
discussions.
Chang Ju-yeon, a 22-year-old student, said that
many Korean fans support BTS-led human rights
campaigns, but that the singers should not be
used in U.S. politics.
"We're proud that BTS leads those efforts as
global artists, and do want to raise voices
together on universal issues that earn
everyone's sympathy," Chang told Reuters.
"But the artists should stay away from domestic
politics, as some people could take advantage of
their fame for political purposes and it would
eventually come back to hurt them," Chang added.
A spokeswoman for Big Hit Entertainment, the
management label for BTS, declined to comment.
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 Rosanna Scotto, an anchor for a
local FOX affiliate in New York, apologised on
Twitter on Monday after some fans criticised her
for asking K-pop group TXT about the Trump rally
during an interview that day. Group members
looked confused and didn't answer the question.
"Wow. We didn't want you to ask them that rude
question about the Trump rally, that's for
sure," one Twitter user who identified as a
North Carolina-based K-pop fan told Scotto.
Scotto replied, "Sorry...it was trending on
Twitter. I had no idea that would upset you."
A post shared on Sunday on theqoo, a popular fan
site, that included U.S. news reports about
K-pop fans' disruptions of Trump's Oklahoma
rally was met with mixed responses.
Although some users cheered and made supportive
comments, others voiced concerns it would hurt
the artists and the K-pop industry.
"There could be differences among fans about how
they relate to their stars in their everyday
lives, as some might see their online fan group
as an exclusive channel to share their interests
and love, and others more actively use it as a
broader platform to express themselves," said
Jung, the culture critic.
The campaign for BLM largely garnered support
after BTS' donations, but some Korean fans urged
those in the United States to stop "forcing
others to give money" and respect the rights of
individuals to express themselves.
"BLM was understandable as it was about human
rights but it makes me uncomfortable to see my
idols pop up in Trump-related news," one fan
wrote on Monday on Weverse, BTS' official fan
community app.
(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin. Additional reporting
by Josh Smith. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
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