Photo shows S.Korean President Yoon's call with Elon Musk in 2022, not 'day before martial law'

"Elon Musk relaying a special message from President Trump to President Yoon Seok Yeol a day before the declaration of martial law," reads part of the Korean-language text on an image shared on Facebook on December 12, 2024.

"President Trump supported the declaration of martial law."

The image shows Yoon and Musk side-by-side on television screens, supposedly on a video call.

Yoon declared martial law on December 3, following a budget tussle with the country's opposition (archived link). He said he wanted to protect South Korea from "communist forces", and claimed the opposition had "paralysed governance" and parliament was a "haven for criminals".

Martial law was lifted six hours later, after lawmakers voted to lift the suspension of civilian rule and thousands of protesters -- enraged by Yoon's decision -- gathered to demonstrate at parliament.

Yoon was impeached on December 14, capping a week of intense political drama; while the president said he would "step aside", he did not apologise for the botched bid to impose martial law (archived link). Yoon has been suspended from office as South Korea's Constitutional Court deliberates on the vote. 

Musk, meanwhile, has been one of Trump's most omnipresent confidants as he prepares for his return to the White House, joining the president-elect for telephone calls with world leaders and dispensing advice on cabinet picks (archived link).

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Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured on December 13, 2024

Similar claims were shared in multiple Facebook groups supportive of Yoon, including here, here and here.

Comments left in the posts indicated several users were misled to believe the photo was taken the day before Yoon declared martial law.

"I knew President Trump was on the side of President Yoon," one user wrote.

Another said: "America is on our side, President Yoon's declaration of martial law was valid."

But Yoon's official schedule does not list any call with Musk or any US official on December 2 – the day before the declaration of martial law – or December 3 (archived links here and here).

As of December 16, US President-elect Trump has also not issued any statement about Yoon's martial law declaration.

2022 video conference

A combination of Google reverse image and keyword searches led to the original photo published on the South Korean president's official website on November 23, 2022 (archived link).

The image, part of a set of six photos, includes a caption that read: "November 23, President Yoon Suk Yeol held a teleconference with Tesla CEO Elon Musk."

Below is a screenshot comparison between the image used in the false posts (left) and the image published by the presidential office (right):

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Screenshot comparison between the image used in the false posts (left) and the image published by the presidential office (right)

The same photo was published in multiple news reports from November 2022, including the Korea JoongAng Daily and Bloomberg (archived links here and here). 

According to a presidential office press release about the meeting, Musk told Yoon that South Korea was among Tesla's top candidates for an electric vehicle factory it plans to build in Asia (archived link).

Video footage of the meeting was also published by South Korean broadcasters KTV and SBS (archived links here and here).

AFP has debunked multiple false claims about the imposition of martial law in South Korea, including here and here.