Doctored images misleadingly shared as 'funeral for K-pop singer Moonbin'

This article is more than one year old.
Published on April 30, 2023 at 03:48
5 min read
By Ara Eugenio, AFP Philippines

Five doctored images have been shared thousands of times in social media posts that misleadingly suggest they show the funeral of Moonbin, a 27-year-old K-pop star who was found dead at his home in Seoul on April 19. The original images in fact show unrelated funerals. The family of the deceased singer chose to keep his funeral and interment private, according to his agency.

The five images were shared here on Facebook on April 22.

"A painful goodbye. Moon Bin Continue to rest in the bossom (sic) on Christ, one day we shall meet again my lovely friend. My heart is broken. how can I survive this Bin you left me in pain and worries. Till we meet again," reads the post.

The photos circulated online shortly after Moonbin's agency announced the South Korean singer had been laid to rest in a private ceremony (archived link).

Screenshot of false Facebook post, taken April 27, 2023.

The 27-year-old singer was discovered dead at his home in southern Seoul on April 19. Police said he appeared "to have taken his own life" (archived links here and here). The exact cause of death remains under investigation.

The same photos alongside a similar claim were shared on Facebook here, here and here.

However, the photos have been digitally altered.

Funeral procession?

A reverse image search on Google found a corresponding photo published here by UK-based photo agency Alamy on August 24, 2009 (archived link).

The original photo -- credited to the Associated Press -- shows the funeral procession for the late former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who died of heart failure on August 18, 2009 (archived link).

The photo's caption reads in part: "A hearse carrying a body of the late former President Kim Dae-jung proceeds during a funeral procession at Seoul Plaza in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009."

Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo seen in the misleading social media posts (left) and the photo published by Alamy (right):

Screenshot comparison of the photo seen in the false social media posts (left) and the photo published by Alamy (right).

A closer look at the original photo found that it was edited to replace a portrait of Kim with that of Moonbin, as shown below:

A screenshot of the Alamy photo with the original portrait.

The doctored image showing a portrait of Moonbin corresponds to a photo taken and published here by Yonhap News Agency on December 19, 2017 (archived link).

The original photo shows Kim Jong-hyun, the late lead singer of the hugely popular K-pop boyband SHINee, who committed suicide in 2017 (archived link here).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo shared in the misleading posts (left) and the photo published by Yonhap News Agency (right):

Screenshot comparison of the photo shared in the misleading posts (left) and the photo published by Yonhap News Agency (right).

A closer look at the altered image shows some blurring around the frame, highlighted in blue by AFP, suggesting the photo has been edited:

A closer analysis of the portrait photo found it had been manipulated.

Grieving woman

The photo showing a grieving woman accompanied by South Korean singer Cha Eun-woo has also been digitally altered.

A Google reverse image search found the original photo published here by Getty Images on December 21, 2017 (archived link).

The photo's caption reads: "Relatives weep during the funeral of Jonghyun of SHINee at the hospital on December 21, 2017 in Seoul, South Korea. The lead vocalist of the K-pop group was found dead, in what is believed to have been a suicide at his apartment on December 18."

Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo in the misleading posts (left) and the photo published by Getty Images (right):

Screenshot comparison between the photo seen in the misleading posts (left) and the photo published by Getty Images (right).

Mourner carrying portrait

The image of a woman carrying a photo frame has also been digitally altered to include a portrait of Moonbin.

A reverse image search on Google found the original photo published by Reuters on December 21, 2017 (archived link).

"A portrait and the coffin of Kim Jong-hyun, the lead singer of top South Korean boy band SHINee, is carried during his funeral at a hospital in Seoul, South Korea, December 21, 2017," the photo's caption reads.

Below is a screenshot comparison between the photo in the misleading posts (left) and the original photo published by Reuters (right):

Screenshot comparison between the photo seen in the misleading posts (left) and the photo published by Reuters (right).

Woman hugging K-pop singer?

Another photo that appears to show a woman hugging K-pop singer Cha Eun-woo has in fact been edited to include Cha's face.

A reverse image search on Google found the original photo published by Getty Images on July 2, 2010 (archived link).

"South Korean actor So Ji-Sub weeps with relatives of late South Korean actor and singer Park Yong Ha during a funeral ceremony at Memorial park on July 2, 2010 in Seongnam, South Korea. The Korean actor and singer was found dead in his home on June 30, 2010 after an apparent suicide attempt," reads the photo's caption.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo in the misleading posts (left) and the photo published by Getty (right):