Old photos falsely linked to baseless claims of 'Chinese spy arrests' in S.Korea

Published on January 24, 2025 at 07:46
5 min read
By Hailey JO, AFP South Korea

South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol has defended his failed martial law bid by rehashing baseless claims of voter fraud, triggering a fresh wave of misinformation online targeting the National Election Commission (NEC). A right-wing South Korean news outlet published a video containing three pictures with a false claim that they show Chinese spies arrested by martial law troops at a facility affiliated with the NEC who were then transferred to US military custody. The pictures actually depict Chinese fishermen detained by the South Korean coast guard in 2016, and US and South Korean authorities separately told AFP the claim is false.

Sky eDaily published the video on YouTube with a title that says "99 Chinese nationals" were arrested and taken to a US military base in Japan.

A voice-over in the clip said troops raided the NEC Election Training Centre, made the arrests and handed them over to US forces on December 3, 2024 -- the same day Yoon declared martial law before lifting it hours later.

"A US military source familiar with the matter has confirmed to Sky eDaily that all 99 arrested Chinese spies were transferred to a US military base in Okinawa, Japan," it went on to say, adding that the suspects "confessed to election interference."

The clip also contained three pictures purportedly showing the "spies" who were arrested. The video has accumulated more than 90,000 views.

Sky eDaily appears to have edited the clip to change the voice-over and remove the pictures after it was initially published on January 16, 2025. The outlet published a Korean-language article the same day -- labelled as "exclusive" -- with the same claim.

Screenshot of Sky eDaily's video taken January 21, 2025

One of Yoon's lawyers mentioned Sky eDaily's report during a January 16 impeachment hearing at the Constitutional Court, saying it shows there is "suspicion" of Chinese interference.

Yoon's failed attempt at martial law in December 2024 touched off a political crisis in South Korea, where democracy had been assumed to be firmly anchored.

He defended his decision to deploy soldiers to the NEC premises as part of the martial law order. He also rehashed unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud -- long circulated among far-right conspiracy theorists in South Korea -- triggering a surge of misinformation online targeting the electoral body (archived link).

The commission has denounced the move as "illegal," "unconstitutional" and a threat to democracy.

The video has circulated elsewhere on YouTube alongside the pictures, while false claims about arrests have spread on X, Facebook and the South Korean forum Naver Blog.

Some users appeared to believe they were genuine photos of Chinese spies arrested by South Korean and US authorities.

"We should cut off diplomatic ties with China. They have shaken the foundation of our country," one user wrote.

"The report is too specific to call it fake or inaccurate," another commented.

However, they were published years before Yoon's martial law announcement.

2016 photos

Reverse image and keyword searches on Google and Naver traced the images back to photos published by South Korean outlets Yonhap News Agency and News1 in October and November 2016.

Local news outlet New1 published the first photo on October 12, 2016 with a caption saying it showed "crew members of Chinese fishing vessels that operated illegally" in the West Sea being escorted to the Incheon Coast Guard's dock (archived link).

The caption also mentioned two 100-ton Chinese fishing boats that trespassed into a restricted area were seized by the Coast Guard the night before.

The West Sea, officially known as the Yellow Sea, is situated between the Korean peninsula and China.

Yonhap News Agency released the second picture on the same day with a similar caption stating the crew members of Chinese fleets apprehended by the Coast Guard were undergoing quarantine at the dock (archived link).

News1 released the third photo on November 2, 2016 with a caption saying it showed Chinese fishermen arrested for suspected illegal fishing in the Yellow Sea (archived link).

Screenshot comparisons of the pictures seen in the false video (L) and their original context

The arrests of the Chinese fishermen followed warnings from the South Korean Coast Guard in October 2016 of a "more aggressive" firearms policy toward Chinese fishing boats illegally operating in its waters following a clash that sank one of its vessels (archived link).

False report

A representative from the US Forces Korea told AFP on January 20 that the claims in Sky eDaily's report are "entirely false."

A NEC spokesperson also told AFP on January 17 that the arrest operation rumour is "completely not true," as no Chinese nationals were present at the training centre on December 3, 2024.

She said 96 people were at the facility that night for a training program -- 88 commission employees and eight instructors.

The commission also rejected the false claim in a statement released January 17 (archived link).

AFP has previously debunked claims related to the declaration of martial law in South Korea.

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