Photo shows snow-covered anti-Yoon protesters, not supporters of the South Korean president

Published on January 10, 2025 at 09:34
3 min read
By SHIM Kyu-Seok, AFP South Korea

Rival groups of protesters in South Korea braved freezing temperatures in January 2024 to rally over the fate of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol. Yoon's supporters on social media shared an image of snow-covered rallygoers, falsely claiming it showed a protest opposed to his removal from power. But the picture had been cropped from an original that showed an opposition politician during an anti-Yoon demonstration.

Shared on Facebook on January 6, 2025, the post showed a group of protesters blanketed with snow and suggested in text overlaid above the image that they were supporters of Yoon.

"The people, for the sake of the future of Korea, have camped out in this freezing cold covered in snow because of the criminal Lee Jae-myung," the text read, referring to opposition leader and Yoon's main rival. "I am in tears. All 108 (ruling People Power Party) lawmakers must come out in support!"

Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured January 8, 2025

The same image was posted alongside similar claims on a different Facebook post, an online news report, and on YouTube.

They were shared as protesters from two political camps rallied during a snowstorm on January 5, with one group in support of Yoon while the other calling for his removal (archived link).

The president has refused questioning and resisted arrest after he was suspended for briefly declaring martial law on December 3, a move that has plunged South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades.

Yoon has remained holed up in his residency, which has seen daily gatherings by both his supporters and detractors.

The image of snow-covered protesters shared by Pro-Yoon accounts were in fact taken at a rally demanding the president's impeachment and removal.

Yoon impeachment rally

Through a combination of keyword and reverse searches on Google, AFP found the image was a cropped version of a picture posted on the Facebook page of South Korean lawmaker Jung Hye-kyung, who is part of the opposition Progressive Party (archived links here and here).

The post read, in part: "The girls waving glowsticks brought me back to my 20s, each of their stories was so precious I could not miss a single part of it... Yoon Suk Yeol will be arrested, this is the world these girls will build."

The original image showed a person wearing a blue coat, which Jung's office said was Jung herself. Contrary to the social media posts, the image was "taken at a rally in favour of Yoon's impeachment, not a pro-Yoon event," a spokesperson told AFP.

Below is a screenshot comparison between the image shared in the false Facebook post (left) and the uncropped original photo from Jung's Facebook post (right):

Screenshot comparison between the image shared in the false post (left) and the uncropped original photo from Jung's Facebook post (right)

The same uncropped images were also published in multiple local news reports, including here and here, which credited the images to Jung's office (archived links here and here).

AFP previously debunked misinformation surrounding South Korea's political crisis, as seen here and here.

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