Photo shows S.Korea opposition lawmakers donating at 2023 rally, not Yoon impeachment protest

Published on January 14, 2025 at 02:57
3 min read
By SHIM Kyu-Seok, AFP South Korea

Thousands of South Koreans have gathered for rival demonstrations in the capital Seoul, either demanding the arrest of President Yoon Suk Yeol over his failed December 3 martial law decree or calling for his impeachment to be declared invalid. Following the latest protest, Yoon's supporters shared a photo online they claimed showed organisers for an opposition rally collecting donations from protesters. But the picture dates back to a March 2023 protest against the Yoon administration's conciliatory policy towards Japan on a historical dispute over forced labourers during World War II.

"Money collection at a pro-impeachment rally," read a Korean-language Facebook post on January 12.

"Of course they love money," the post continued, showing a photo of people wearing green vests collecting donations from rallygoers.

Screenshot of the false claim shared on Facebook, captured January 13

Similar claims made the rounds on Facebook and Ilbe, a South Korean forum popular with far-right users.

For weeks, rival rallies have played out in front of Yoon's residence in favour or against his impeachment, amid an ongoing attempt by investigators to arrest the president for questioning over his failed martial law bid (archived link).

Opposition lawmakers, including Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, joined some of the pro-impeachment rallies, while several legislators of the ruling People Power Party convened at protests opposing Yoon's removal from office (archived here and here).

Comments left in the posts suggested social media users believed the image was shot at a recent pro-impeachment rally.

"These money-grabbing leftists impeached the president for their own gain," one commented.

"How dare these people profit off the country's woes," another wrote.

March 2023 rally

Keyword searches for words seen on pickets held by rallygoers in the photo found the image in a video livestreamed on YouTube by South Korean news organisation OhMyTV on March 11, 2023 (archived link).

The video is titled: "[Live] Second pan-national rally condemning the humiliating solution to the forced labour issue".

The footage shows a rally criticising the Yoon government's announcement on March 6, 2023 that it would compensate victims of Japan's forced wartime labour with South Korean corporate funding rather than Japanese contributions (archived link).

While the decision was welcomed by Japan and the United States, victims criticised the proposal as falling short of their demand for a full apology from Tokyo and direct compensation from the Japanese companies involved.

Opposition lawmakers including Lee -- pictured in the centre of the image -- took part in a large rally criticising the decision held on March 11 (archived link).

The image shared on social media can be seen at the video's 1:37:29 mark, showing volunteers collecting donations from the lawmakers partaking in the rally.

Below is a screenshot comparison between the image shared on social media (left) and the screenshot from OhMyTV's original footage (right):

Screenshot comparison between the image shared on social media (left) and the screenshot from OhMyTV's original footage (right)

Various reports about the rally, including by South Korean news agency Yonhap and Kyunghyang Shinmun newspaper, show opposition lawmakers seated in the same order as those in the image shared in false social media posts (archived here and here).

AFP previously debunked multiple claims surrounding Yoon's martial law bid and subsequent impeachment, including here and here.

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