Queer counterpublic and queer fan activism in South Korean K-Pop fandom: A case study of ‘Rainbow MooMoo’

From 2017 to 2019, queer K-Pop fan organizations rapidly surfaced in Korean Twitter fandom. This article explores one such project, mujigae mumu (‘Rainbow MooMoo’), an organization of queer fans of the popular girl group Mamamoo (2014–present). Rainbow MooMoo’s project exemplifies recent scholarship on K-Pop fandom’s liberatory and political potentials, particularly those emerging from case studies in global and anglophone K-Pop fandom spaces. However, the mobilization of queer fans in South Korean K-Pop fandom prompts us to revisit and reinterpret K-Pop fandom as a subversive and political space in non-western contexts. Through a case study of Rainbow MooMoo, I highlight K-Pop fandom’s domestic political role by examining how queer fan activist organizations like Rainbow MooMoo act as a site for fans to find queer belonging and connect to a broader queer counterpublic network, facilitating K-Pop fans’ flow between private consumption and public political participation. In doing so, I also underscore how Korean fans’ positionality vis-à-vis K-Pop as a heteronormative and mainstream cultural mode uniquely shapes and limits fans’ political activities and expressions.