Posts describe fabricated 'South Korea-China encounter' in South China Sea
- Published on March 15, 2024 at 11:02
- 5 min read
- By Jan Cuyco, AFP Philippines
Copyright © AFP 2017-2024. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
"China is screwed! South Korean coastguard has arrived in the South China Sea to confront the Chinese militia," reads the Tagalog-language title of a YouTube video shared on March 9, 2024.
The claims circulated days after South Korea's foreign ministry expressed on March 7 deep concerns over the latest collision between Chinese and Philippine vessels in the contested South China Sea waters (archived link).
Manila accused the China Coast Guard ships of causing two collisions with Philippine boats and water cannoned one of them, leaving four Filipino crew members injured. The March 5 confrontations were the most intense between Philippine and Chinese vessels in years (archived link).
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing aside competing claims from a host of Southeast Asian nations and an international ruling that has declared its stance baseless.
The video has been viewed more than 20,000 times and has been reposted on YouTube here; and on Facebook here and here.
It originated from a YouTube channel with a history of spreading false claims on the South China Sea dispute, some of which have been debunked by AFP here and here.
The video begins with a disclaimer that its content is "purely for entertainment purposes" and some information is "not fully verified", but comments on the video suggested users believed the images show the South Korean coastguard in the South China Sea.
"Thanks to South Korea, to help Philippine (sic)," commented one user.
"Thank you to the South Korean Government, you are a friend to the oppressed," another user said.
Unrelated photos
The South Korean coastguard told AFP there have been no reports of their vessels confronting Chinese militia in the South China Sea waters in the last month.
"In addition, the Korean Coast Guard has not been deployed or dispatched to the South China Sea," a spokesperson said in a March 14 email.
Google reverse image searches also found that the video misrepresented at least three images of coastguard crews and fishing vessels.
The first half of the video shows photos of an orange boat displaying the South Korean flag; several fishing vessels; and another image of a Chinese coast guard ship.
The photo of the orange boat -- seen at the video's 13-second mark -- shows South Korean Coast Guard officials pictured off the coast of Chennai in the Bay of Bengal on June 10, 2016 (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the false video (left) and the photo of the South Korean coastguard (right):
The photo of the group of fishing vessels seen at the video's 20-second mark was published by South Korean media outlet Yonhap news agency on December 27, 2012 (archived link).
According to its Chinese-language caption, it shows Chinese fishing boats that were caught illegally fishing in the West Sea (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the false video (left) and the undated Yonhap photo of fishing boats (right):
The other picture showing a Chinese coast guard vessel at the one-minute, 10-second mark was taken on May 14, 2014 near China's oil drilling rig in disputed waters in the South China Sea (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the false video (left) and an old photo of the Chinese coast guard (right):
A portion of the video also claimed that South Korea purportedly promised to send thousands of military troops to the Philippines "in the event of a war against China" over the contested waters.
Cho Seonghyeon, first secretary for the Korean embassy in the Philippines, said on March 15 that this claim was "not true".
Old freight incidents
The latter half of the video claims to show a Chinese fishing vessel reportedly capsized after it was aggressively rammed by a US Coast Guard ship in the South China Sea.
A reverse image search on Google of the video's keyframe at the four-minute, seven-second mark found a photo published by Getty Images (archived link).
It shows an aerial shot of the Japanese Coast Guard helicopter flying above the capsized freighter Dai 18 Eifuku Maru near Japan's Izu Oshima Island on September 27, 2013.
Though the photo at the four-minute 48-second mark shows a Chinese fishing boat, it was taken in the Indian Ocean on May 23, 2023 (archived link).
According to its caption, the Sri Lankan Navy said it had located 14 bodies inside the Lu Peng Yuan Yu 028 Chinese fishing boat after it overturned with 39 crew on board.
Below are screenshot comparisons of the false video (left) and old photos of different capsized vessels (right):
AFP has previously debunked similar misleading claims related to the South China Sea dispute here,here and here.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
