IU has become the focus of political sparring over the comment section of her Instagram post.

The singer IU has emerged as a target amid political conflict over the 6·3 local elections ‘ballot paper shortage incident’. Although IU has not stated any position on this issue, as of the 6th the comment section of an apology post she uploaded to her Instagram on the 18th of last month about the MBC drama ‘21st-Century Grand Prince Consort’ has become a venue for a comment war between political camps.

Comments pressuring with messages such as ‘Please prepay at the Jamsil Starbucks’ and ‘Why not prepay for the protest at the election commission’ are pouring in under that post. Some users have described IU remaining silent as ‘hypocrisy’. Others counter that people are leaving comments “telling IU to die,” and the comment section is turning into a confrontation between camps of internet users.

The trigger was the ballot paper shortage that occurred during the main vote of the local elections on June 3. The National Election Commission initially said papers were short in 14 places in Seoul, but on the 5th corrected this after its own review to say shortages occurred at 67 polling stations nationwide.

At the Jamsil 7-dong No. 2 polling station in Songpa-gu, citizens and YouTubers seeking to stop ballot boxes from being taken out faced off against the election commission, and on the morning of the 5th they were dispersed after a police riot unit was deployed. On that day, National Election Commission chair Noh Tae-ak apologized and announced that he would step down voluntarily. Earlier, in the early hours of the 4th, the commission stated that this issue did not constitute grounds for a re-vote·election postponement.

In the background of IU becoming a target is an action from December 2024. Ahead of a rally calling for the impeachment of Yoon Suk-yeol, IU prepaid for 200 pieces of bread, 200 drinks, 200 bowls of gukbap, and heat packs at shops around Yeouido. Some supporters of Yoon condemned her as ‘Left IU’. That earlier good deed has been brought back during the current ballot paper controversy as criticism such as “Why stay silent this time?”