JAKARTA: Indonesia holds its presidential election on Wednesday but candidates are looking to another country’s export to win votes — K-pop, the South Korean sensation that has swept much of the world. At an event held by young volunteers for candidate Anies Baswedan in the capital Jakarta, die-hard K-pop fans had photoshopped his face with sunglasses on merchandise fashioning him in the style of a South Korean pop star.

In Indonesia, megastars BTS and other K-pop groups are extremely popular, giving politicians another route to appeal to young people. Millennials and Gen Zers make up more than half of the country’s electorate. Hundreds gathered in a noisy crowd, some holding posters, paper fans and stickers emblazoned with Baswedan’s face in a K-pop style. “It is funny, very contemporary,” said tax analyst Nurul Hidayah, a supporter of Baswedan. “Usually the campaign materials are old-fashioned, too boring. But this is very fun.”

Others had put his cartoon image on T-shirts and his campaign’s name on neon products. Baswedan is battling front-runner and Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, and former Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo for the presidency. The country’s own BTS fanbase — known as ARMY — has held online fundraisers to support political causes before, and now candidates are trying to rally them behind their own campaigns. Baswedan has replicated K-pop stars’ livestreams on the campaign trail, posting videos of himself on TikTok answering supporters’ questions from his car.

A man holds a t-shirt bearing an image depicting the face of Presidential candidate Anies Baswedan, with his name changed from "Pak" (Mr in Indonesian) Anies, to a more Korean-sounding name "Park Ahn Nice".

Married couple Hady Irfan (left) and Ajeng Pangesti, K-pop fans and supporters of Anies Baswedan hold campaign merchandise made in K-pop style.

It has earned him the nickname “Park Ahn Nice” online, which is a modified phonetic Korean translation of “Sir Anies”. “I think it is a good strategy for them to use the K-pop trends,” said 32-year-old entrepreneur Hafidz Surapranata. “This campaign is really unique.”

Voter awareness

Some K-pop fans were no longer “allergic” to talking about politics because of the campaign tactics, according to digital anthropologist Karlina Octaviany. “It is effective in gaining voters’ awareness,” she said. A Twitter account set up by alleged K-pop fans to promote Baswedan’s campaign has amassed more than 120,000 followers. Subianto has already taken to social media to present himself as a dancing “cute grandpa” to soften his image. His Gerindra party last year called on fans to wear merchandise from K-pop group Blackpink in front of posters of Subianto.

Another candidate, Pranowo, caused a storm last summer when he asked social media followers which K-pop act he should invite to the country. Fans quickly rounded on him, accusing him of trying to ride the coattails of the K-pop craze. “This is not related to politics,” he posted on X. — AFP