After President Yoon declared his short-lived martial law in South Korea on December 3, demonstrations and candlelight vigils were held in Yeouido for two weeks until the National Assembly passed the motion to put the leader under accusation on the 14th.
At the time, IU, Girls’ Generation’s Yuri, and NewJeans were some of the few K-pop stars who publicly showed support for the impeachment rally by sending snacks, meals, and other necessities to their respective fandoms who joined the protest.
READ ALSO: IU gives away free meals to anti-President Yoon protesters, including soup and rice cakes
“We have prepared snacks and hot compresses in the hope that the cold hands of UAENA (IU fandom), who attended rallies holding I-KE (light sticks) in the cold weather to illuminate the environment, will feel a little warm ,” IU expressed through his agency, EDAM.
Yuri, who prepaid kimbap for SONE from a shop in Dangsan-dong, also encouraged the fandom by sending his message.
“Keep yourself safe and healthy. Sing ‘Into the New World’ well,” he said.
Finally, NewJeans also revealed on its newly launched Instagram account @jeanzforfree that it donated 500 servings of food and drinks for the Bunnies (fandom) attending the event.
However, this did not sit well with those who were not in favor of impeaching the president and suggested a boycott campaign against K-pop stars.
The aforementioned community listed the brands advertised by the stars with the intention of avoiding purchasing and consuming the companies’ items.
“We saw a related article (about the boycott), but it didn’t have a significant impact on sales over the weekend,” one brand told K-media outlet Ilgan Sports.
Rather, this movement backfired on the community that initiated the boycott as fans used the list to show support for the brands instead, as a reward for the idols’ donations.
“Why does it matter if stars care about and love their fans?” a fan asked.
“Let’s buy more at this point,” added another netter.
Meanwhile, the impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol, voted on the 14th, was passed with 204 votes in favour, 85 against, 3 abstentions and 8 null votes out of 300 members of the National Assembly.
With this, President Yoon was suspended from his duties.
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