Jeon Han-gil [Yonhap]
Jeon Han-gil [Yonhap]

Far-right YouTuber Jeon Han-gil, who claims the June 3 local elections were rigged, called on celebrities including BTS, singer IU and television personality Yoo Jae-suk to join his cause.

Jeon attended a "rigged election report rally" organized by the Liberty and Innovation party (led by Hwang Kyo-ahn) on Tuesday near the site of a vote-count blockade protest outside the handball arena at Olympic Park in Songpa-gu, Seoul. Police estimated around 300 people attended.

Taking the stage, Jeon said Oh Se-hoon had won the Seoul mayoral race through election fraud and should therefore face a by-election.

He said people who raised the issue of election rigging had long been dismissed as conspiracy theorists, extremists or mentally unstable, but that "lies cannot defeat the truth." He called for an end to what he described as a system of manipulated statistics, computer-altered results and tampered early voting.

He also appealed directly to the entertainment world. "I ask famous singers like IU, world stars like BTS, and top figures like Yoo Jae-suk — shouldn't you now speak up for our people?" he said. "You always said your popularity and success came from the love of the public. Isn't it time to give something back?"


paq@heraldcorp.com