HONG KONG — Less than a week before he was killed, Charlie Kirk was in Asia spreading his conservative and anti-immigration message, making stops in South Korea and Japan, where he urged people to have more children and embrace religion.
“Their country is totally under attack,” he said of South Korea on his podcast this week after returning from his trip.
That is why I chose South Korea as my first Asian destination,” said Kirk, a co-founder of Turning Point USA, a nonprofit group that promotes conservative political ideals to young people.
Kirk was welcomed with pyrotechnics and chants of “USA” as he walked onto the stage and spoke against immigration, communism, and cheered the prevalence of Christianity in South Korea.
“If you look at it in historical terms, it’s pathetic.” After South Korea, Kirk left for Tokyo, where he has also steadily gained popularity.
HONG KONG — Charlie Kirk was in Asia less than a week before his murder, promoting his conservative and anti-immigration views while visiting South Korea and Japan. He encouraged people to adopt a more religious lifestyle and have more children.
After his return from his trip, he stated on his podcast this week that South Korea was “under attack.”. The same issues that we have been fighting for here are universal, whether it is mass migration in Japan or law enforcement in South Korea. “”.
South Korea and Japan, two East Asian democracies, as well as the United States, have receptive audiences for messages like Kirk’s. S. allies with a rise in far-right movements, declining birth rates, and largely monoethnic populations.
According to the World Economic Forum’s most recent Global Gender Gap Report, South Korea, which is ranked 101st out of 148 countries, has an anti-feminist backlash that contributed to Yoon Suk Yeol’s victory in the 2022 presidential election. Supporters of Yoon who accepted his allegations of election fraud and legal persecution adopted symbols and slogans linked to President Donald Trump as he faced impeachment for declaring martial law in December 2024.
In the face of an aging population, the Japanese government has encountered opposition to its attempts to increase the number of foreign workers. Last month, a new cultural exchange program caused public anxiety when it was rumored that it would result in a new wave of immigrants from four African nations.
Kirk made his first appearance in Seoul last Friday and Saturday, where he gave speeches at Build Up Korea, a conservative forum that Donald Trump Jr. had previously attended. and whose advisory board consists of Maureen Bannon, the daughter of Steve Bannon, and Alex Bruesewitz, the adviser to President Trump.
“Young people, particularly men, are becoming more conservative at the same time on several continents,” Kirk, 31, told Chosun Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper.
It is not exclusive to the United States. A. which is why it merits greater focus. I picked South Korea as my first Asian destination for that reason,” Kirk, a co-founder of Turning Point USA, a nonprofit organization that encourages young people to embrace conservative political ideas, stated.
Pyrotechnics and “USA” chants greeted Kirk as he took the stage, where he spoke against communism and immigration while applauding the Christian majority in South Korea.
Additionally, he mentioned how safe he had felt while strolling through the South Korean capital, which he later described as “striking” and “amazing” in his podcast. “”.
He assured the forum participants, “I knew that wherever I went, it would be completely safe and clean, so I didn’t even have to think about where I was going.”. Many cities in America are not like that. “.”.
Kirk urged the more than 50 million-person nation of South Korea to defend itself against the “menace” of the Chinese Communist Party and to fight against the “left-leaning elite.”. During his 40-minute speech, he also pointed out that South Korea has the lowest birth rate in the world and that it is the responsibility of its citizens to prevent their nation from “disappearing.”. “”.
Kirk, a father of two, dismissed widely held worries about the nation’s growing cost of living, education, and housing, saying, “It’s not just morally wrong to not have children.”. When viewed through the lens of history, it is pitiful. “.”.
Kirk moved to Tokyo from South Korea, where he has also been gaining popularity over time. Similar arguments, such as the necessity of raising the birth rate—which dropped to a record low in the country of over 120 million people last year—were made by him in Japan.
He received an invitation to give a talk by Sanseito, a far-right party in Japan whose motto is “Japanese first” and was influenced by Trump’s MAGA movement. In the July upper house election, the party gained significant support after threatening a “silent invasion” of immigrants.
More restrictions on foreign workers and investment have been demanded at previous rallies by the party, which has evolved from a fringe anti-vaccination group to a major political force. Sohei Kamiya, its leader and sometimes referred to as a “mini Trump,” has denied any xenophobic accusations.
Kirk, who was seated beside a Sanseito lawmaker, expressed his desire to “invigorate the people of your great nation to keep fighting this globalist menace.”. “”.
The party released the video prior to the event, and Kirk stated in it, “We’re in a big fight against globalism.”.
According to Kirk, who told CNN in Japan that he was “thrilled” to see a “growing political movement” there that was “fighting the same things we believe in,” “Japan’s not Japan anymore” if the country were to receive a significant influx of foreigners. “.”.
He asserted that it was common sense and not xenophobia.
Just 3% of Japanese citizens are foreign-born, which is significantly less than the percentage in the United States. S. as well as numerous other nations. However, the Immigration Services Agency reports that their number increased by over 10 percent last year to a record of nearly 30.8 million.
During an event at Utah Valley University on Wednesday, Kamiya expressed his shock and heartbreak on X over Kirk’s shooting death.
He stated, “We had started to envision the work we would take on together and had committed to meeting again at his year-end event.”.
“The only way we can honor him that is worthy of his example is to cherish what we have received from him, to tell it faithfully, and to carry it on—both in Japan and abroad. “.”.
