Old S. Korean election image misrepresented as recent Lee Jae-myung crash

Published on May 23, 2025 at 10:12
2 min read
By SHIM Kyu-Seok, AFP South Korea

Weeks before South Korea's presidential election, a photo of one of frontrunner Lee Jae-myung's campaign trucks on its side resurfaced in posts falsely claiming it was taken after an accident in May 2025. The incident occurred in February 2022, and Lee's Democratic Party said no similar crashes have occurred in the lead-up to this year's poll.

The photo spread May 18, 2025 on Facebook with the caption: "2025.05.18 (Sunday) 15:33. Campaign truck flipped over."

Polling shows Lee is the clear frontrunner for the June 3 presidential election, which was triggered by former president Yoon Suk Yeol's removal over an ill-fated attempt to suspend civilian rule in December 2024 (archived link).

Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured May 20, 2025

Similar claims circulated in posts mocking Lee on Threads, with comments indicating users believed the image was taken recently.

"This is a sign that Lee will lose the election," one wrote.

Another said: "An investigation needs to be launched to see whether the driver was drunk."

But the image is from an accident that occurred during the 2022 presidential race -- and a Democratic Party spokesperson told AFP on May 21, 2025 that none of Lee's campaign trucks had recently crashed.

A reverse image search on Google found the photo in a JoongAng Ilbo report from February 15, 2022 (archived link).

The report, which cited the Busan police, says one of Lee’s campaign trucks struck the ceiling of an overpass and overturned while canvassing in the city.

Lee was the Democratic Party's candidate in the 2022 presidential election, which he lost by a razor-thin margin to Yoon (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared image (L) and the photo in the 2022 JoongAng Ilbo report

Other local media outlets published the same image in February 2022, including NoCut News and the Seoul Shinmun (archived here and here).

Reports from Yonhap News and the DongA Ilbo show photos taken from different angles (archived here and here).

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