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Indonesia candidates turn to K-pop to pull votes

Supporters of presidential candidate Anies Baswedan and vice presidential candidate Muhaimin Iskandar attend an campaign rally organised by youth volunteers in Jakarta on February 8.//AFP

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 on Thursday evening, some holding…

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