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Is youngest Chilean prez a K-pop fan? TWICE, Stray Kids fandoms adopt Gabriel Boric

'Gabriel Boric is a socialist millenial kpop stan. Finally a relatable world leader,' tweeted one enthusiastic fan

A lot of people were happy that former student activist Gabriel Boric was elected as the next president of Chile. He gained popularity in the early 2010s for his demand for better education, the promise of a welfare state and for being an LGBT+ ally. At 35-years-old, he is the youngest Chilean president ever and has often shared the general public’s sentiments. By staying up-to-date on social media, he was also the candidate who embraced total transparency. Well, thanks to his active presence on social media, Boric has also gained the backing of K-pop fans, especially the TWICE and Stray Kids fandom.

After he won the election on December 20, fans noticed Gabriel Boric’s love for K-pop on his social media. A photo of him started making the rounds on K-pop Twitter. He is seen holding photo cards of Stray Kids’ Han and TWICE’s Jeongyeon while also making a finger heart which has been popularized by Korean pop culture. Fans found the photo adorable and have 'adopted' him into their fandoms. This is not the first time that a world leader has also shown genuine appreciation for the genre. We previously had former US president Obama talking about how his favorite group was SHINee and he had also lauded BTS.

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Is Gabriel Boric a K-pop fan?

Chilean fans also shared that the social media photo was not a one-time thing that Boric had shared for clout as he has shown his love for K-pop several times. The young Chilean president has also been seen interacting with K-pop fans and taking selfies with photocards of TWICE and Stray Kids’ Bang Chan. He also happens to know about the famous meme ‘Stan Loona’ as he responded to one comment by saying ‘Greetings to Orbits’. Orbit is the fandom name of the girl group Loona which one would know only if they are into K-pop.

'Relatable world leader' 

Fans loved how genuine Gabriel Boric is thanks to his interactions with Chilean actor Pedro Pascal and his open declaration of being a Swiftie. Several tweets were posted about this, like this one: “Ok but i want to be moot [mutuals] with him now.” Another user also pointed out, “Gabriel Boric is a 35-year-old leftist, student leader, metalhead who also loves Taylor Swift. His campaign has been different from any other- with him actively campaigning for kpop stans votes, featuring in animes, and declaring his love for Taylor swift. Boric is running under Convergencia Social, a left wing political party, and is offering to battle inequality, aid Indigenous communities, squeeze big mining, and make abortion legal and free.”

One fan was shocked, “GABRIEL BORIC (Chile's youngest president) HOLDING A JISUNG ANG JEONGYEON PHOTOCARD!#?@?#8@?#!@(?” Another shared, “Wow, here's a new public figure stay really cool.” One fan joked, "President-elect of Chile @gabrielboric is a socialist millenial kpop stan. Finally a relatable world leader."