Clips of Liverpool boss press interview misused in false YouTube video

"This is what Liverpool manager Klopp said in response to a Chinese reporter who belittled Son Heung-min," reads the title of the first video posted here on YouTube on May 1, 2023.

Son Heung-min is a South Korean footballer who plays for the Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.

The post claimed that the two-minute, 47-second clip contains audio from a "radio interview of Klopp by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV" after Liverpool's 4-3 win over Tottenham in the Premier League on April 30 (archived link).

The English dialogue in the video and its Korean subtitles feature an alleged exchange between Klopp and an unnamed "Chinese reporter" who repeatedly criticises Son (archived links here and here).

The second video was posted on YouTube on May 3 alongside a claim that the video contains the audio from the same CCTV interview, but this time with Klopp defending Son against questions from a different Chinese reporter.

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Screenshot of the misleading claim shared on YouTube. Captured June 5, 2023.

AFP has previously debunked false claims that aimed to stir up anti-China sentiment in South Korea here and here (archived link).

The videos were also shared here on Naver Blog and here on DC Inside, a South Korean forum.

Comments on the misleading videos showed many users believed the subtitles genuinely represented Klopp's comments.

"Klopp is so admirable. I think if Son plays under such a manager he can grow and flourish further as a player. Those Chinese, on the other hand, are ridiculous," one user wrote.

"Klopp is amazing for putting up with such rude and ridiculous questions," another said.

But the Korean subtitles and voiceover are not an accurate translation of Klopp's words, which were taken from two separate press interviews he gave that were unrelated to Son.

April 28 press conference

Keyword searches found the audio used in the first misleading clip is from a press conference Klopp gave ahead of the Liverpool-Tottenham match on April 28, streamed live on Liverpool's official YouTube channel (archived link).

Analysis of the original press conference footage showed Klopp made no mention of Son, nor were there any questions that matched the computerised audio of the reporters heard in the misleading video.

The misleading clip includes audio of Klopp from the 24-second mark with false Korean subtitles to make it appear as if this section contained praise for Son, but Klopp's actual comments from the five-minute 37-second mark show he was replying to a question about Liverpool's team selection, not Son.

A summary of Klopp's comments in the press conference was published in a report on Liverpool's official website (archived link).

May 2 press conference

Separate keyword searches found the audio of Klopp in the second YouTube clip matched his comments from a press conference on May 2, in which he discussed the Tottenham match and his expectations for Liverpool's upcoming game against Fulham (archived link).

But a review of the original clip shows that the misleading video mistranslated parts of Klopp's quote to make it appear as if he were discussing Son.

The corresponding section in the original video at the 13:40 mark shows he was actually referring to his selectionof Liverpool's Colombian forward Luis Diaz, who returned to the starting line-up against Tottenham for the first time in six months after a knee injury and scored a key goal (archived link).

A report on Liverpool's website also quotes these specific comments about Diaz (archived link).

Through multiple searches, AFP could not find any credible reports about a radio interview between Klopp and CCTV.