Photos of top judge in Yoon impeachment case with red eye predate verdict by months

Published on April 14, 2025 at 11:32
3 min read
By SHIM Kyu-Seok, AFP South Korea

After South Korea's Constitutional Court voted unanimously to oust impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol, two photos of the judge who penned the decision with a bloodshot eye -- taken months before the judgment -- circulated online with false claims it proved he was "beaten up" beforehand. The country's police, who have been providing security to the justices involved in the case, said it received no reports of violence directly inflicted upon the judges either before or after the verdict.

"Who beat you up, the international mafia?" reads the Korean-language claim shared on Facebook on April 7.

The attached graphic shows a screenshot of a JoongAng Ilbo headline that reads, "Jeong Hyeong-shik, appointed by Yoon, wrote the court verdict ordering Yoon's removal" (archived link).

Below that are two pictures of the Constitutional Court Jeong with one bloodshot eye. "Was [Jeong] beaten up before writing the verdict ordering [Yoon's] dismissal?" reads text underneath.

Screenshot of the false claim post on Facebook, captured April 11

Identical claims were shared by multiple Facebook accounts opposing Yoon's impeachment.

Jeong is one of eight judges who ruled unanimously on April 4 to uphold parliament's impeachment of Yoon over his failed imposition of martial law in December 2024, triggering fresh elections after months of political turmoil (archived link).

As the only member of the bench nominated by Yoon, Jeong was believed by many of the ex-president's supporters as a figure opposed to impeachment (archived link).

"An investigation needs to be launched on why Jeong's eye was red when the verdict came out," one user commented.

"So he was beaten into dismissing the president and showed up like this to the court? What a coward," another wrote.

However, South Korean police said they did not receive reports of violence against any of the judges in the case.

With threats leveled against the court for weeks before the verdict, South Korean police have provided security to each of the eight justices and the measures have continued after Yoon was dismissed on April 4 (archived link).

Police have assigned security detail to each of the judges and regularly patrol their residences, according to local reports (archived link).

A spokesperson for the National Police Agency told AFP that throughout this period, and as of April 12, "there have been no reports of physical violence inflicted on any of the Constituational Court justices."

A reverse image search on Google found both photos shared in the graphic showed Jeong appearing in court on the day of the first hearing of Yoon's impeachment trial on December 27, 2024.

The photo on the left, captured by Newsis, shows Jeong during the hearing (archived link).

Screenshot comparison between the left image of Jeong shared in the false post (left) and the original photo of Jeong captured by Newsis on December 27, 2024

News1 captured and published the photo on the right, showing Jeong entering the court on the morning of the hearing (archived link).

Screenshot comparison between the right image of Jeong shared in the false post (left) and the original photo of Jeong captured by News1 on December 27, 2024

Jeong's bloodshot right eye can be clearly seen at the 1:45 mark in news footage of the first hearing from broadcaster YTN (archived link).

AFP cannot independently verify the cause of his bloodshot eye.

AFP previously debunked a photo of Yoon with former US President Joe Biden misrepresented as Jeong "reassuring" the impeached president weeks before verdict.

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