Social media posts falsely claim South Korean opposition leader 'bows to Mao Zedong bust'

This article is more than one year old.
Published on December 22, 2023 at 08:46
5 min read
By SHIM Kyu-Seok, AFP South Korea

Social media posts have repeatedly shared a manipulated image alongside a false claim it shows South Korea's opposition leader Lee Jae-myung bowing to a bust of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong. However, source footage of the image shows Lee was in fact bowing to his supporters. A photo of Mao's bust sold on a Chinese retail website has been digitally inserted into the screenshot.

"This is said to be Lee Jae-myung bowing to Mao Zedong," reads the Korean-language caption of an image shared here on Facebook on December 16.

The image shows a group of people in a circle apparently bowing towards a white bust of Mao. Lee appears to be the figure in a black suit bowing directly in front of the statue.

Screenshot of the misleading post shared on Facebook, taken December 18, 2023

The altered picture surfaced after controversy erupted in September as a ceramic bust of Mao partly resembling the one seen in the doctored image was hosted in an art exhibition held in South Korea's legislature to commemorate South Korea-China relations, alongside a plaque that included the word "savior" (archived link).

After removing the bust in response to criticism, the opposition lawmaker who co-hosted the exhibition said he was not aware Mao's statue was part of the exhibit, according to The Korea Herald (archived link).

Lee was also criticised for appearing to be submissive towards the Chinese ambassador in Seoul, Xing Haiming, during a meeting in June.

Xing told Lee during the meeting that the South Korean government had misjudged its stance towards China and the United States -- remarks that the South Korean foreign ministry said were "provocative".

The ministry has also lodged a protest with the Chinese ambassador over the comments -- which led to what South Korean media called a "tit-for-tat" summon by the Chinese foreign ministry of South Korea's top diplomat in China (archived link).

Kim Gi-hyeon, head of the ruling People Power Party, said Lee sided with Xing as he listened to the Chinese ambassador "obediently for 15 minutes without any protests" (archived link).

Similar claims were shared alongside the same doctored image on the South Korean forum Naver Band here, here and here.

However, the image has been doctored.

Supporters' meeting

A keyword search on Google found a post shared on the South Korean forum Ppomppu on August 13, 2022, that included the original unaltered image of Lee bowing alongside various other kinds of footage from the same event (archived link).

The original image includes a watermark on its upper-right corner indicating it is a screenshot from footage posted on the YouTube account of South Korean journalist-turned-YouTuber "Reporter Hwang".

A separate keyword search on YouTube using the channel's name found the original footage was streamed live on the same day (archived link).

The one-hour, 13-minute livestream shows Lee delivering a speech in Busan as part of a contest to lead the Democratic Party, which he eventually won on August 28 by a wide margin (archived link).

The shot used in the altered image matches the 53:07 mark of the livestream, which shows Lee bowing to a group of his supporters after greeting them individually following his speech.

No statue of any kind can be seen in the scene or any other part of the footage.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the doctored image shared on Facebook (left) and the corresponding shot in the original livestream of the event published on YouTube (right):

Screenshot comparison of the doctored image shared on Facebook (left) and the corresponding shot in the original livestream of the event published on YouTube (right)

Comparison between the images shows the YouTube channel's watermark has been cropped out and the Mao bust inserted in between the circle of Lee and his supporters.

Lee himself posted similar footage of the supporters' meeting on his official Instagram account on August 13, which he also described as a meeting with his supporters after delivering a speech in Busan (archived link).

"[My supporters] greeted me with passionate cheers and a great bow in this hot weather," the post reads.

"Even a return bow from me cannot express the extent of the gratitude I feel toward all of you."

Another YouTube video shared in the Ppomppu post, captured from yet another different angle, also shows Lee was not bowing to any bust (archived link).

Mao bust

Another keyword search on Google Images found the image of the Mao bust corresponds to a photo of a figurine sold on the Chinese online commerce website AliExpress, but flipped horizontally (archived link).

A screenshot comparison shows the Mao bust seen in the doctored image (left) matches a side view of the ceramic figurine of Mao (right):

Screenshot comparison between the Mao bust seen in the doctored image (left) and a side view of the ceramic figurine of Mao on AliExpress (right)

A description of the product on the page shows the figurine is only 15 centimetres tall and 8.6 centimetres wide at its base -- much smaller than the adult-sized proportions suggested by the altered image.

AFP has earlier debunked misinformation about Lee such as here and here.

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