Altered cake photo falsely shared as 'US embassy gift to South Korea's ruling party interim chief'

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Korean-language social media posts have repeatedly shared an altered photo of a cake with a false claim that the US Embassy in Seoul sent it to South Korea's former justice minister Han Dong-hoon after he became the interim head of the country's ruling party in December 2023. The posts misleadingly suggested the gift was evidence that the United States favoured Han as South Korea's next president. But the photo has been doctored from an image of a cake that South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol sent to the embassy to mark US Independence Day in July 2023.

"Celebratory cake sent by US Embassy to Han Dong-hoon," reads the Korean-language claim shared here on Facebook on January 1. "This is evidence the United States already sees Han as the next president."

The image shows a white, three-layered cake. The US flag and embassy emblem can be seen in the background. 

A Korean-language card placed on the cake reads: "We congratulate you on your inauguration as emergency committee chairman."

The claim was shared after Han -- a close Yoon ally and seen in his party as a presidential hopeful -- was appointed head of the ruling People Power Party's  (PPP) emergency committee on December 21, 2023 (archived link).

He will serve as the interim head of the PPP and lead the party into the legislative election scheduled for April 2024. 

Screenshot of the misleading claim shared on Facebook. Captured January 2, 2024.

Identical claims were shared on Facebook here, here and here, as well as here on the South Korean forum Naver Band.

Comments left by several users indicated they were misled by the false claim.

"It looks like the United States is putting great faith into Minister Han," one user wrote.

"A show of this kind definitely means the United States supports emergency committee chief Han Dong-hoon," another said.

But the photo has been doctored. 

US Independence Day gift

The original photo shows a cake given by Yoon to the US Embassy in Seoul on July 4, 2023, which bore the English-language message: "Happy Fourth of July to our greatest Ally," as seen in photos published by the embassy on its official X account (archived link).

Below is a screenshot of the post: 

Screenshot of the US Embassy in Seoul's post on X

Below is a screenshot comparison of the doctored image (left) and the original photo shared by the US embassy (right):

Screenshot comparison of the doctored image (left) and the original photo shared by the US embassy (right)

A large section on the right-hand side of the original photo appears to have been cut out from the altered version, which featured a separate Korean-language message from Yoon to US Ambassador Philip Goldberg.

It reads: "Ambassador Goldberg, we congratulate the Independence Day of the United States of America, our righteous ally in the pursuit of freedom. July 3, 2023, Republic of Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol, Kim Keon Hee." 

The US Embassy's X post featuring the cake was also featured in multiple local media reports, including here, here, here and here (archived links here, here, here and here).

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