Doctored image falsely shared as Trump 'applauding South Korean president'

Published on July 24, 2024 at 11:20
Updated on July 25, 2024 at 04:43
2 min read
By SHIM Kyu-Seok, AFP South Korea

A doctored photo from the US Republican National Convention has surfaced in Facebook posts falsely claiming it shows Donald Trump watching South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol giving a speech at his People Power Party's convention. The original AFP photo in fact shows Trump applauding former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley at the Republican convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

"Even Trump watched the People Power Party convention. Our ally seeks the success of President Yoon," read a Korean-language Facebook post that shared the edited picture on July 23.

The post surfaced hours after Yoon's People Power Party (PPP) held a convention to elect a new group of leaders following a devastating defeat in April's parliamentary election (archived link).

Yoon called on the party to unite against a legislature now dominated by the opposition.

Screenshot of the false Facebook post, taken on July 24, 2024

The altered image spread quickly across pro-PPP Facebook groups, including here, here and here.

Some Facebook users appeared to believe the picture genuinely showed Trump was watching Yoon's speech.

"Because President Trump is watching we must make the right choice in our next leader," one commented.

"It seems even the United States is keenly interested in our convention, though they'll probably ignore the Democratic Party convention," another wrote, referring to South Korea's main opposition party.

RNC photo

A reverse image search on Google found the original photo published in a Time magazine report about Nikki Haley endorsing Trump at the Republican National Convention (archived link).

The photo is credited to AFP photographer Pedro Ugarte.

The photo in AFP's archives features a caption saying it was taken on July 16, the second day of the convention held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Below is a screenshot comparison between the doctored image in false posts (left) and AFP's photo (right):

Screenshot comparison between the doctored image in false posts (left) and AFP's photo (right)

The image of Yoon in false posts was taken from a broadcast of the PPP's convention, which was posted on YouTube by South Korea's Channel A on July 23 (archived link).

The screenshot in false posts corresponds with the 5:42:00 timestamp of Channel A's broadcast.

Below is a screenshot comparison between the screenshot in false posts (left) and the corresponding shot from Channel A's broadcast (right):

Screenshot comparison between the screenshot in false posts (left) and the corresponding shot from Channel A's broadcast (right)

AFP has previously debunked false claims about US reactions to South Korean politics here and here.

July 25, 2024This story was updated to amend the header image

July 25, 2024 This story was updated to amend the header image

Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.

E-mail