Research/Study Research/Study

MAGA media set their sights on South Korea

The September conference Build Up Korea 2025 features MAGA personalities who have spread conspiracy theories about South Korea’s elections

Written by Jane Lee & Isabella Corrao

Research contributions from Payton Armstrong

Published

MAGA media personalities with ties to Trump ally Steve Bannon are holding a conference in South Korea with the goal of starting “a MAGA movement” in Korea called Build Up Korea. As South Korea faced political turmoil over the past year, these figures defended the former Korean president’s use of martial law and pushed wild conspiracy theories that China had infiltrated the Korean Democrat Party and interfered in the 2025 Korean presidential election. Bannon’s War Room has become a focal point of these conspiracy theories, with Bannon and his troupe repeatedly warning their audience that Yoon’s impeachment is part of a larger, worldwide movement targeting conservative leaders and that his impeachment, “to the Third World War, is Bloody Kansas to the Civil War. Or Spain, 1935.”

Jump to section

  • Background

    • On December 3, then-President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law. Yoon accused the National Assembly — controlled by Korea’s Democratic Party — of plotting insurrection and attempting to “overthrow” democracy. He claimed the measures were necessary to ensure “the freedom and safety of the people” and to keep the country from collapse. Yoon lifted martial law after mass protests from both citizens and lawmakers, which included members of his own party. [New York Times, 12/3/24; Center for Strategic & International Studies, 12/3/24]
    • Yoon was subsequently impeached by the National Assembly, which was later upheld by the Constitutional Court in April. A snap presidential election was held in June, which resulted in Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party nominee, elected as president. [Associated Press, 4/5/25; CNN, 6/4/25]
    • Build Up Korea 2025, which is seemingly styled after the TPUSA movement, features personalities who have spread claims that China had infiltrated Korea’s Democrat Party and interfered in the June election to ensure that Lee would win. As one expert noted in Reuters, the electtion fraud claims regarding Lee and the Chinese Communist Party “reek of conspiracy theories and paranoia” — even a White House official noted that the Korean election was “free and fair.” PBS called these claims “unsubstantiated conspiracy theories.” [Twitter/X, 8/26/25; Reuters, 6/4/25; PBS, 6/2/25]
  • build up korea 25 mina kim tweet

  • Jack Posobiec

    • Steve Bannon and Jack Posobiec claimed that the CCP is “deeply enmeshed in the politics of South Korea” and that the impeachment of Yoon was a coup operated by the CCP. [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 4/4/25] 
    • On the day of South Korea’s snap election, Posobiec worried that Korea would “fall to a pro-CCP" party. Bannon described Korea’s Democratic Party as “a puppet government that basically threw Korea into a crisis by throwing out the conservative.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 6/2/25] 
    • Posobiec declared that China had “knocked off the government of South Korea." [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 6/6/25] 
    • Posobiec tweeted, “Pro-CCP candidate wins in South Korea." [Twitter/X, 6/3/25] 

  • Mina Kim

    • Mina Kim, founder of the purported Korean MAGA movement, Build Up Korea, defended Yoon and his decision to declare martial law at length: “President Yoon believes that the National Assembly has been infiltrated by these foreign interests, particularly pro-CCP forces, and that there are even pro-North Korean sympathizers within our legislative body. And many politicians, in his view, have clearly compromised. And faced with this reality, President Yoon saw martial law as the only constitutional power he had left. And it was a last resort decision that he had to make. And while the timing may be controversial, it exposed deep corruption and injustice within our government. And importantly, no violence was used. The Declaration of Martial Law was peaceful and a strong but lawful appeal to the people, I believe.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 4/4/25] 
    • Kim declared that “one of the biggest threats Korea is facing right now is China's growing influence inside Korea,” citing espionage, land ownership, and long-term legal residents voting in local elections. [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 4/17/25] 
    • Kim: “With the June 3 presidential election coming up, especially with the young people, we're at a major turning point. And then, the young people realize that the outcome will likely decide whether we continue down the road of freedom with the United States, or shift towards more socialist, China, pro-China direction.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 5/27/25] 
    • Kim claimed that “there’s been many reports of Chinese interference” in South Korea’s election based on anecdotal reports from TikTok and other claims of voter fraud. [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 6/3/25] 
    • At a TPUSA event called Student Action Summit, Kim glorified South Korean President Rhee Syngman, a dictator who died in exile after his police violently suppressed protesters, killing over 100. Bannon then urged Koreans to start their own MAGA movement, declaring, “We’ve got to take Korea back.” [Global Nonviolent Action Database, accessed 9/2/25; Real America’s Voice, War Room, 7/12/25] 
    • Kim tweeted, “South Korea Needs You 🇺🇸 America, your ally is at a crossroads. In this video, I explain what South Korea and our president are facing—and why it matters to YOU. Freedom, faith, and the values we share are under threat. Together, we can make a difference.” [Twitter/X, 1/16/25] 
    • Kim tweeted, “Freedom-loving Christian patriots have gathered in Gwangju, South Korea - one of Korea’s most left-leaning cities - with Korean and U.S. flags in their hands to pray for our president’s release. South Korea is God's nation. Let's Make Korea Great Again and Make Korea Godly Again!” [Twitter/X, 2/14/25] 
    • In a tweet, Kim lamented Yoon’s impeachment, calling it a “tragedy” and warning that “countless enemies have infiltrated our government, culture and society.” Kim also pleaded that the U.S. stand with Yoon and his supporters: “With the attention and support of American leaders and citizens, we believe this moment can be turned around.” [Twitter/X, 4/4/25] 

  • Rob McCoy

    • Co-Chair of TPUSA Faith Rob McCoy praised Yoon imposing martial law, arguing that “they needed it there” because “communists have infiltrated these these seven areas of societal influence, arts, entertainment, media, business, politics. They're everywhere. And the same thing infiltrated with us with DEI and critical race theory.” In a December appearance on Flashpoint, McCoy commented on martial law in South Korea, saying that, “One of the reasons why you're seeing what's happening in South Korea is very similar to what was happening here in the United States. Communists have infiltrated these seven areas of societal influence, arts and entertainment, media, business, politics. They're everywhere. And the same thing infiltrated with us with DEI and critical race theory and all that was happening. And they were about to take over the country, and what they would do is is secure the military and change the constitution. Well, in South Korea, like our president elect understood, they had to stop it. And thank god we didn't need martial law, but they needed it there. And so, it's a fight for freedom, and, I'm excited to see what's gonna happen because America's leading the way.” McCoy's remarks appear to refer to the so-called Seven Mountain Mandate, “a theological approach that calls on Christians to impose fundamentalist values on all aspects of American life.” The Mandate “calls on Christians to gain influence, or 'take dominion,' over seven key areas of culture: religion, family, education, government, media, business and the arts.” [Victory Channel, Flashpoint, 12/3/24; TPUSA Faith, accessed 9/4/25; Media Matters, 2/21/24; Ohio Capital Journal, 7/10/25]

  • War Room and Steve Bannon

    • Following the impeachment of Yoon in December, Steve Bannon declared, “South Korea, to the Third World War, is Bloody Kansas to the Civil War. Or Spain, 1935. … This is much, much, much more dangerous than the late 1930s, by five orders of magnitude.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 1/8/25]
    • Bannon stated that Yoon’s impeachment was “essentially a coup d’etat … driven by the Chinese Communist Party.” Retired Col. John Mills then justified Yoon declaring martial law, claiming that Yoon had been trying to investigate election fraud: “A lot of people don't understand the reason for the president to declare martial law, which is in the Constitution, was so that he could conduct a raid of the National Election Commission back in early December. The National Election Commission is on par with maybe Fulton County, Georgia, as far as trustworthiness. Because this is how the DP, the Democrat Party, essentially seized control of the National Assembly.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 1/8/25]
    • Mills credited War Room with galvanizing South Korean conservatives against the “coup” enacted by South Korea’s Democratic Party “in collusion with the Chinese Communist Party.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 3/19/25] 
    • Bannon warned, “As soon as South Korea falls by a rigged election, you're going to have — these are not exercises anymore. These are rehearsals. … These are rehearsals for the invasion of Taiwan. And these dominoes are all going to fall, and they're going to fall quickly, unless somehow we get engaged in this.” War Room guest and professor Bradley Thayer added, “The CCP is conquering South Korea now, not using kinetic warfare, not using bullets, but using political warfare to infiltrate the political parties, Democratic Party on the left, and the People's Power Party on the right.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 5/31/25]
    • Bannon: “This is how the CCP operates, and they're very smart at political warfare. In Korea, they didn't need bullets. They got it by ballots.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 6/3/25]
    • Former U.S. Ambassador Morse Tan said, “We see massive indications of election fraud” in the South Korean presidential election. He elaborated: “This was the biggest election fraud operation in the history of South Korea.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 6/3/25]
    • Retired Col. Grant Newsham defended Yoon declaring martial law, accusing Korean leftists of stealing the 2020 and 2024 elections: “In the 2020 and 2024 elections, the leftists, who cheated, were able to get overwhelming control of the National Assembly, of their Congress. And they had so much power in South Korea that it makes life for a president, a conservative like Yoon, he simply cannot govern. He has no budget. He's being impeached once a week. And you just can't operate. … He used the expression he was in a legislative dictatorship. And the idea was that by declaring martial law, he could wake people up.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 6/3/25]
    • Bannon and Newsham repeatedly cast doubt on the results of South Korea’s snap presidential election, suggesting there had been fraud. Bannon said Korea’s National Election Commission was “basically a totalitarian fascist dictatorship.” Regarding the commission’s vote counting system, Newsham claimed that it was “something that probably Chinese high school hackers could get into without breaking a sweat” and that “it is something where you really don’t have much confidence in the counting.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 6/3/25] 
    • Bannon claimed the Korean Democratic Party “are controlled by Beijing.” Bannon continued, “The way they won in stealing that election was by Beijing. The Chinese Communist Party, political warfare at the ballot box.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 6/4/25]
    • Cpt. James Fanell said that “the election results in the Korean peninsula and South Korea are very concerning” but it’s “part of Beijing's grand strategy, the Chinese Communist Party’s strategy, to drive the United States out of Asia and by basically taking South Korea and putting them under their wing.” Bannon declared: “Korea has fallen.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 6/4/25]
    • Secretary general of the anti-CCP lobby group New Federal State of China Forrest Zhou compared this situation to Tiananmen Square where students were “naive” and “trusted the CCP.” He continued to explain that in South Korea the “Chinese Communist Party already waged this war, this unrestricted war, for a long time,” so “the American people need to understand this.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 6/4/25]
    • Ava Chen, also from New Federal State of China, suggested that South Korea was “controlled completely by the CCP,” and that there were “various innovative disruptions that basically interrupts the voting process and also the voting counting process, including voter fraud.” She continued, “If you're looking any countries that is pro-CCP and pro-Russia, you will see the same playbook and being played again and again.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 6/17/25] 
    • Bannon warned listeners that conservative leaders are supposedly being targeted around the world, including Yoon: “Folks, you don't take care of this now, they steal the election in 2028, you're all going to go to prison. You're going to go to prison. They don't care what — they'll make it up.” [Real America’s Voice, War Room, 7/10/25] 
    • Tan: “There are various indications of election fraud going on, so much so that even legacy media in South Korea … are even reporting on it.” [Twitter/X, 5/30/25] 
    • Mills: “For the last 30 years, this slow python squeeze on South Korean society by the Chinese Communist Party. You walk around it’s almost like, is there an election going on? It is almost silent out there.” [Twitter/X, 5/30/25]
    • Newsham: “Hardcore Korean leftists who turned the country into a one-party state that is aligned with North Korea and the Chinese Communist Party. … If people raise the issue of election fraud or integrity, and even just say, you know we ought to have a free election. They will find that the prosecutors and the cops show up at their door.” [Twitter/X, 5/30/25]
    • Bannon suggested: “Our strongest ally in the region may actually flip to the Chinese Communist Party camp, because this party, this progressive party they got, this liberal party they got, to me is infiltrated totally with a CCP element.” [Twitter/X, 5/31/25] 
    • Bannon’s War Room account posted: “STOP THE STEAL: Morse Tan On Largest Election Fraud Operation In Korea.” [Twitter/X, 6/2/25] 
    • Bannon’s War Room: “We’re being sucked into a conflict with the CCP and Russia that we’re not going to be able to turn around. And today in Korea, we could lose South Korea to a CCP-backed party. People aren’t awake to how we’re being dragged in everywhere.” [Twitter/X, 6/3/25] 
    • Mills: In South Korea, “citizen activists … are just flooding X with reports of fraud.” [Twitter/X, 6/3/25] 
    • War Room posted on its website: “Battlefield Report – Korea: CCP Influence, Election Fraud, and the Resistance Rising,” which details “The Election That Shook the Peninsula.” [War Room, 6/4/25] 
    • Bannon’s War Room posted: “Mina Kim, founder of Build Up Korea, and the group’s leaders gathered at George Washington’s Mount Vernon to pray for the next gen of Koreans standing with America. They gave a special shout-out to Steve Bannon.” [Twitter/X, 8/9/25]