Trump's birthday letter sent to Kim Jong Un, not to Yoon Suk Yeol

"President Trump's letter wishing President Yoon Suk Yeol a happy birthday has been revealed," reads the Korean-language Facebook post shared on February 28.

"Since it was sent after the martial law decree, it definitely contains [Trump's] show of support."

The English-language letter, dated December 18, 2025 and emblazoned with the White House logo, is addressed to Yoon and contains a message wishing him a happy birthday.

Yoon -- who also faces charges of insurrection -- turned 64 years old on December 18, 2024 -- a year before the letter is dated (archived link).

Trump's signature can be seen at the bottom, as well as a large watermark over the document that reads, "Letters to Trump".

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Screenshot of the false post shared on Facebook, captured March 3, 2025

Supporters of the suspended South Korean president have drawn parallels between him and Trump, using American flags and Trump-esque slogans at rallies to echo Yoon's claims about communist infiltration and electoral fraud (archived links here and here). 

A lawmaker from Yoon's political party who attended Trump's inauguration have also publicly expressed hope the US president would express his support for the impeached South Korean leader (archived link).

Identical claims were shared on pro-Yoon Facebook groups, with comments on the posts suggesting several users believed the letter was genuine.

"Wow it really is Trump's signature," one user wrote.

"This shows President Trump is ready to help reinstate President Yoon," another said.

But the letter was altered from an old birthday message from Trump to North Korea's Kim.  

Altered letter

A keyword search found Trump's original letter to Kim published in a Politico report on March 9, 2023 about the correspondence between the two throughout the US leader's first term in office (archived link). 

The original letter, dated January 8, 2019, was included in a book titled "Letters to Trump" published by Winning Team Publishing in 2023 (archived link).

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Screenshot comparison between the altered letter shared on social media (left) and original document published by Politico in March 2023

A comparison between the altered and authentic letter published by Politico shows the date and recipient lines were changed, but the rest of the message is identical.

"Letters to Trump" is a collection of hand-picked private correspondence between Trump and "some of the biggest names in recent history," according to Trump Store, where this book is on sale (archived link).

The same letter was also published in a report by British tabloid The Sun with credits to the book (archived link).

Trump famously described the letters he exchanged with Kim during his first term as a "love" affair, repeatedly touting them as a sign of the close rapport he shared with the North Korean leader (archived link).

The two traded birthday greetings on multiple occasions, including in June 2019 and January 2020 (archived links here and here). 

There are no official reports about Trump sending birthday messages to Yoon or any other South Korean leaders as of March 4, 2025.

AFP previously debunked false claims that Trump and the US military had expressed support for Yoon.