AFP journalist targeted over misinterpreted Ukraine aid question to South Korean president

After North Korea deployed troops to Russia to aid its war against Ukraine, a video was shared in social media posts that misleadingly suggested it showed a Ukrainian reporter telling South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol that her country had given Seoul aid during the Korean War and asking why this aid was not being reciprocated. The video in fact shows AFP's Seoul bureau chief, a British journalist, asking the South Korean president about the country withholding military aid for Ukraine and critics who pointed out there had been international support for South Korea during its own war.

"Ukrainian reporter: 'Didn't South Korea receive help (from Ukraine) during the Korean War?'" read a Korean-language post shared on South Korean forum Ppomppu on November 7, 2024.

"Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union during the Korean War".

The post included a line of Korean characters representing laughter, apparently mocking the journalist for her apparent lack of historical knowledge.

In the Korean War -- a three-year conflict initiated by the North's invasion of the South in 1950 which has left the two Koreas divided to this day -- the Soviet Union supported North Korea, not South Korea. 

Meanwhile, a United Nations coalition of 16 nations, led by the United States, provided combat troops to assist the South (archived link).

The post included a YouTube video with a thumbnail showing Yoon speaking at a podium and a reporter asking him a question.

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Screenshot of the Ppomppu post, captured on November 26, 2024

Similar posts spread on South Korean forums Gasengi, Inven and Daum, and on X after North Korean troops were deployed to help Russia with its war against Ukraine (archived link).

Yoon has called the deployment a "provocation that threatens global security beyond the Korean Peninsula and Europe" and said South Korea will review its stance on providing weapons to Ukraine (archived link).

The South Korean public, however, remains largely opposed to arming Ukraine. A public opinion poll conducted by Gallup in October 2024 found only 13 percent of respondents expressed support for such a move (archived link).

Comments on the posts suggested social media users believed the reporter was Ukrainian and had erroneously said her country provided aid to South Korea during the Korean War.

"Isn't it inappropriate for Ukraine, a former part of the Soviet Union that significantly assisted North Korea's invasion of South Korea, to pose such a question?" asked one user.

Another said: "We should thoroughly investigate that foreign journalist first. I wonder what her motive is behind asking a loaded question that implies we should help a country that once sided with our enemy."

But the journalist -- AFP's Seoul bureau chief, British journalist Catherine Barton -- did not suggest that Ukraine had assisted South Korea during the Korean War.

Misinterpreted question

The YouTube video embedded in the misleading posts was published by the local newspaper Seoul Shinmun on November 7 (archived link).

At its 23-second mark, Barton says to Yoon in English: "I'd like to ask about direct weapons to Ukraine. Withholding military aid for Ukraine while North Korean soldiers mass on its borders, is drawing criticism as ungrateful considering international support for South Korea during its own war. What's your response to that?"

The question is then translated, but the Korean interpretation is slightly different -- substituting "international support for South Korea" for "the help it received".

The Seoul Shinmun video also shows Yoon's response to the question, which suggests he understood the question raised the issue of reciprocating "international support".

"That’s right. When we were in difficulty, we received a lot of help from the international community, so I think it is natural for us to help countries that are suffering from such illegal invasions," he said.

Yoon said South Korea should help where it can and has mainly provided humanitarian and economic support, but the "variable of North Korea has started to come into play".

He said: "Now, depending on the level of North Korean involvement, we will gradually adjust our support strategy in phases. This means we are not ruling out the possibility of providing weapons."

The president's response was covered by AFP, which reported that it signalled a possible shift in Seoul's stance on providing weapons to Ukraine (archived link).

Yoon's response was also widely covered in local media, including broadcasters MBC and YTN, but none suggested the president was asked about Ukraine having provided support for South Korea during the war (archived links here and here).