Photo of South Korean first lady doctored to distort her face
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on April 21, 2023 at 08:44
- 4 min read
- By Emo TOURE, AFP South Korea
Copyright © AFP 2017-2025. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
"Trainee teacher Kim Myung-shin," reads the Korean-language claim shared here on Facebook on April 11, 2023.
"Kim Myung-shin" refers to Kim Keon-hee, the wife of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. Kim reportedly changed her name prior to her marriage to Yoon (archived link).
The photo shows a woman with her bottom lip appearing to droop and her cheeks and chin having been lifted.
Kim has often been complimented for her looks since her husband's election, to the point that she was nicknamed "idol first lady".
However, she has been embroiled in various scandals related to allegations of university plagiarism and fraudulent modifications of her professional credentials for which she has apologised for. Critics have also accused her of working as an escort in one of Seoul's luxury hotels, but Kim has denied it. This prompted sexist comments from officials and trolls, who also attacked her for having had plastic surgery (archived links here, here, here, here and here).
Kim confirmed in a 2021 interview that she had double eyelid surgery, which creates an eyelid crease resulting in almond-shaped eyes (archived link).
AFP has previously debunked misinformation targeting Kim here, here and here.
Comments on the posts show some users were misled by the doctored image.
"Looking at this photo, she looks much better now. She used to look scary. I'm terrified of seeing this face in my dream," one user wrote.
"She is one of those people who is never satisfied with their current appearance. That's why she keeps having plastic surgery," another said.
The same image was shared on Facebook here and here, and on Twitter here.
However, the image of her with a drooping lip circulating online has been doctored.
Teaching practice days
A Google reverse image search found the original image published by South Korean news agency Newsis on April 10 (archived link).
The image shows Kim standing next to five middle school students, with a caption that reads: "Mrs. Kim Keon-hee with students at a drawing contest during her teaching practice days (provided by Office of the President)."
The original photo has the same background and elements as the doctored image shared on Facebook.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the doctored image shared on Facebook (left) and the original photo of Lee published on Newsis (right).
The same photo from the Office of the President was published on the same day by other South Korean news outlets, such as Joongang Ilbo and Munhwa Ilbo (archived links here and here).
A former student of Kim's sent the photo alongside a letter to the Office of the President, according to a report from JoongAng Ilbo.
The presidential office told the Korean-language outlet that the student attended Gwangnam Middle School in Seoul in 1998, where Kim worked as a student-teacher while completing her master's degree in art education. The photo was taken in Children's Grand Park on April 29, 1998 (archived link).
Doctored picture
The doctored image of Kim appears to have been created using AI software, which can be used to add a smile to someone's face and change their features.
A close look at the altered image shows an unusual jaw line and right earlobe, highlighted in blue by AFP below. This detail suggests Kim's face in the photo has been edited.
Using the applications AirBrush and Lightroom, AFP edited the original image. The result is similar to the doctored image circulating online.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
