Photo shows South Korean honour guard performing in Canada in 2008, not 'in UK in 2023'

Published on July 12, 2023 at 09:05
3 min read
By SHIM Kyu-Seok, AFP South Korea

An image of several people dressed in Korean traditional clothing has been repeatedly shared alongside a false claim it shows members from a specialised unit of South Korea's military performing in Britain in May 2023. The social media posts also praise President Yoon Suk Yeol for "raising the country's prestige" abroad. The picture is actually more than a decade old and it shows the unit performing at an international festival for military bands in Quebec, Canada in August 2008.

The photo was shared here on Facebook on July 5, 2023.

The accompanying image appears to show several members of South Korea's traditional honour guard -- a unit of the military that specialises in ceremonial performances using traditional dress and instruments -- playing a Korean wind instrument (archived link).

Korean-language text embedded below the picture reads: "The honour guard performing in the United Kingdom in May. They were invited after Yoon Suk Yeol's visit to the United States. This proves [South Korea's] elevated prestige."

Screenshot of the misleading post, shared on July 10, 2023

Yoon's last state visit to the United States was in late April 2023.

The same picture was shared alongside a similar claim elsewhere on Facebook here, as well as on South Korean forums Naver Band and DC Inside.

But AFP found no credible reports or official announcements about South Korea's traditional honour guard performing in Britain in May 2023.

In fact, the image shows members of South Korea's traditional honour guard performing at a festival for military bands held in Quebec, Canada in August 2008.

2008 military event

A Google reverse image search found the image corresponds to a scene from a video titled "Amazing Grace", published on YouTube on July 10, 2009 (archived link).

The video's English-language description reads: "Solo: Corporal Do-Gye Hong from the Republic of Korea Traditional Army Band. The instrument called 'Taepyeongso' and was a double reed-wood wind instrument.

"Amazing Grace by John Newton. Québec City Military Tattoo 2008 (Massed band and chorus final)".

Members of South Korea's honour guard are seen in the clip playing "Amazing Grace" on their instruments before they are joined by military bands from other countries, as well as a large choir.

The photo shared in false posts captures the moment at the two-minute, 29-second mark of the video.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the image in the misleading posts (left) and the corresponding scene from the 2009 YouTube video (right):

Screenshot comparison of the image in the misleading posts (left) and the corresponding scene from the 2009 YouTube video (right)

Keyword searches found South Korea's traditional honour guard listed as a participant in the 2008 Quebec City international Festival of Military Bands from August 21 to 23 on the archived version of its official website.

Also known as the Military Tattoo, the annual event was held in Quebec City from 1998 until 2013, when it was dissolved due to lack of funds.

Major South Korean news outlets including Yonhap News Agency and public broadcaster KBS reported on the honour guard's participation and published footage from the event (archived links here and here).

The Yonhap report, published on September 1, 2008, quotes the festival's musical director about the Korean military unit's performance of "Amazing Grace" using a traditional Korean instrument.

The South Korean honour guard can also be seen in multiple other videos of the 2008 Military Tattoo posted on YouTube, including here, here and here (archived links here, here and here).

One member of the honour guard who took part in the 2008 event later penned an op-ed for the Korea Economic Daily on January 28, 2021 recalling the performance and the audience's response (archived link).

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