Old Biden-Yoon photo misrepresented as S. Korean leader's 'secret meeting' with top judge

Published on March 17, 2025 at 08:37
3 min read
By SHIM Kyu-Seok, AFP South Korea

As South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol awaited a decision on whether he would be removed from office, a photo was falsely shared in posts that claimed it showed the impeached leader being "reassured" by his Constitutional Court appointee. The picture in fact shows Yoon walking with former US president Joe Biden after a joint press conference at Camp David in August 2023.

"This is said to be Justice Jeong Hyeong-shik reassuring President Yoon recently," reads part of the Korean-language caption to a Facebook photo shared on March 16, 2025.

The photo shows the backs of two men, one with white hair putting his arm around the other as they walk down a path.

"Their secret meeting was caught on camera," the caption continues. "It looks like impeachment will for certain be dismissed."

Jeong, who also has white hair, is one of eight judges adjudicating whether to remove impeached President Yoon from office due to his failed imposition of martial law in December 2024 (archived link). A verdict is expected in mid-March.

Classified as a conservative, he is also the only judge on the bench who was nominated by Yoon (archived link).

Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured on March 17, 2025

The same photo was shared in various other posts on pro-Yoon Facebook groups.

"[Yoon and Jeong] are known to be friends of the same age," read a comment on one of the posts.

Another said: "If Jeong did meet the president, he is taking a big risk."

The photo, however, does not show a "secret meeting" between Jeong and Yoon.

2023 Camp David photo

A combination of reverse image and keyword searches on Google found a similar photo was published by South Korean news organisation Newsis on August 19, 2023 -- after a trilateral summit between US, South Korean and Japanese leaders at Camp David (archived link).

The falsely shared image appears to have been cropped from the wider Newsis photo.

Its caption reads: "President Yoon Suk Yeol walks with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio after a joint press conference held at the US presidential retreat of Camp David in Maryland on the 18th."

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared image (left) and the Newsis photo (right)

The three leaders agreed to expand security and economic ties at the presidential retreat, with the meeting and agreement coming at a time when all three countries were on an increasingly tense ledge in their relations with China and North Korea (archived link).

Newsis captured and published several other shots of Biden walking with Yoon and Kishida after their joint press conference (archived here and here).

Biden can be seen putting his left arm around Yoon at the 54:28 mark of CBS News' footage of the press conference (archived link).

AFP previously debunked multiple false claims surrounding another Constitutional Court judge.

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