Clip of 2019 S.Korea rally falsely linked to President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment

Published on December 27, 2024 at 05:13
4 min read
By Hailey JO, AFP South Korea

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached by parliament over his abortive attempt at martial law on December 3, 2024. However, a video that social media posts claimed shows his supporters rallying against the impeachment motion is unrelated. It actually shows a massive 2019 protest against former president Moon Jae-in's government.

"President Yoon Suk Yeol's supporters gathered to oppose impeachment, a scene the media refuse to show," read the Korean-language caption to the video shared on YouTube on December 14, 2024.

"A gathering of patriots... Democrats, do not disregard the people," it added.

The 30-second clip, which shows a large crowd, is also overlaid with text that read, "Saturday, December 14, 1:00 pm, Gwanghwamun Syngman Rhee Square," referring to South Korea's first president Rhee who declared martial law in 1948 (archived link).

"We strongly oppose the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol!" the text further said.

Screenshot of the YouTube video, taken on December 26, 2024

Yoon was suspended from office by parliament in an impeachment vote on December 14.

His supporters gathered in downtown Seoul to protest the motion, while larger crowds at rival rallies urged parliamentarians to pass it (archived link).

The Constitutional Court commenced proceedings against Yoon to determine whether to uphold his impeachment, with its first preliminary hearing slated for December 27 (archived link).

Yoon is also under investigation for alleged insurrection and abuse of power, but he has consistently refused to comply with summons for questioning.

Opinion polls showed about 75 percent of the South Korean public supported his removal, but a vocal minority remains steadfast in backing Yoon (archived links here and here).

The footage was shared here, here, here and here on YouTube alongside similar claims.

Comments indicated some social media users believed the claim.

One user wrote, "What a massive crowd! Thank you, patriots. Stay healthy. We love you".

Another said: "The media spread a blatant lie that only about 20,000 showed up."

The video, however, is old.

2019 protest

A reverse image search found the protest footage was posted by South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper on YouTube on October 3, 2019, saying it showed conservative groups rallying that day (archived link).

Side-by-side comparisons below of the video circulating in the false social media posts (left) and the one posted by Chosun Ilbo (right) confirm they show the same protest.

Screenshot comparisons of the video in the false posts (L) and on Chosun Ilbo's YouTube channel (R)

At the video's 21-second mark, a red banner can be seen reading "Overthrow Moon Jae-in, Arrest Cho Kuk" -- referring to the then-president and then-justice minister.

Hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters took part in the rally on Gwanghwamun Square at the time calling for Cho's ouster as prosecutors questioned his wife in a widening probe into corruption allegations surrounding the family (archived link).

Moon's approval rating hit a record low after he appointed the scandal-tainted ally, who resigned weeks later (archived link).

Cho made a political comeback with his newly founded party winning the third-most seats in the country's legislature in the April 2024 elections (archived link).

But he was jailed in December after the Supreme Court upheld a two-year jail sentence for forging academic documents to secure his children's admission to prestigious schools (archived links here and here).

AFP previously fact-checked posts that shared the same video as different protests in 2020 and 2024.

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