Doctored photo does not show South Korean opposition leader 'eating steak and lobster'

This article is more than one year old.
Published on April 19, 2023 at 04:46
4 min read
By SHIM Kyu-Seok, AFP South Korea

An altered photo has been repeatedly shared in social media posts to falsely claim it shows South Korea's opposition leader Lee Jae-myung eating a plate of steak and lobster among a group of students having ordinary Korean-style meals during a visit to a university. The original photo shows Lee having the same meal as the students during the visit in April 2023. The picture of the steak and lobster plate inserted into the altered photo was taken from a stock image posted online in February 2014.

"See how this man Jit scarfs down a steak by himself in front of students," reads the Korean-language claim shared here on Facebook on April 14, 2023.

The post uses a pejorative nickname to refer to Lee, who is seen in the image with a plate of steak and lobster in front of him, while surrounded by several students eating trays of ordinary Korean-style meals.

Screenshot of the misleading claim shared on Facebook. Captured April 17, 2023.

Comments in the misleading posts showed several users believed the image was genuine.

"This guy thinks he's an emperor or something. He should be in prison," one user wrote.

"I wouldn't be able to swallow something like that in that situation with everyone watching," wrote another.

Lee has been a frequent target of misinformation. AFP has previously debunked misinformation related to him here and here.

The same image was shared alongside similar claims on Facebook here and here, as well as here on Naver Band, a South Korean forum.

The image, however, was doctored.

Doctored Lee photo

Through a reverse image search on Google, AFP found the original photo published in a report by the South Korean news organisation Newsis on April 7, 2023 (archived link).

The report features several images of Lee having breakfast with students at Chonnam National University as part of his party's efforts to promote cheaper lunches in schools across South Korea.

The original photo shows Lee eating a tray of rice, soup and side dishes -- a meal commonly eaten by South Korean students in school cafeterias.

"Democratic Party Chairman Lee Jae-myung has breakfast with students at the 1st student cafeteria at Chonnam University in Gwangju's North district on the morning of the 7th," the photo's caption reads.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the doctored photo shared on Facebook (left) and the original photo published by Newsis on April 7 (right):

Screenshot comparison of the doctored photo shared on Facebook (left) and the original photo published by Newsis on April 7 (right)

Lee's breakfast with the students was featured in a video published on his official YouTube channel, showing him arriving at the cafeteria, filling his tray with rice and side dishes and eating his meal while talking to students (archived link).

The same scene was documented in photographs published in other local media reports about Lee's visit to Chonnam University, including here, here and here (archived links here, here and here).

Stock image of steak and lobster

A separate reverse image search on Google found the picture of the steak and lobster plate seen in the doctored photo corresponds to a stock image published by Getty Images, titled "Filet mignon plated with asparagus and lobster tail - stock photo" and credited to the user "pjohnson1" (archived link).

The image's caption reads: "Surf and Turf, Fillet Mignon, lobster tail, asparagus and lemon on white plate with red wine and melted butter in background. Professionally shot, color corrected, exported 16 bit and retouched for maximum image quality."

Below is a screenshot comparison of a close-up of the steak and lobster plate in the doctored photo (left) and the original image published on Getty Images (right):

Screenshot comparison of a close-up of the steak and lobster plate in the doctored photo (left) and the original image published on Getty Images (right).

The same surf-and-turf plate photo was published on another stock image website, iStock. It is also credited to "pjohnson1" and includes additional information that says the photo was uploaded on February 10, 2014 (archived link).

Screenshot of the stock photo published on iStock, with the photo's upload date marked in red by AFP

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