Picture of Trump 'bestowing medal to S.Korean activist' is doctored

"At first I thought he was full of hot air, but then I saw this photo where Jeon Han-gil received a medal directly from President Trump and I began to believe Trump really is behind him," reads part of the Korean-language caption of a collage shared on Facebook on June 11, 2025.

"Lee Jae-myung's government should realise that if it messes with Jeon, it will become enemies with President Trump."

The post refers to activist Jeon's claims that the United States would come to his aid if South Korea's newly elected president Lee Jae-myung targets him for supporting for impeached leader Yoon Suk Yeol (archived link).

The collage shows various screenshots of Jeon talking about Trump's supposed support and a larger image of him apparently receiving a medal from the US president (archived link).

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Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post, captured on June 12, 2025

The same collage was shared in several Facebook groups supporting conservative politicians.

"Wow, an award from Trump himself -- you are a hero to the Republic of Korea," reads a comment on one of the posts.

"Any time a South Korean receives an award abroad should be a cause for great celebration," says another.

But the image purportedly showing Trump giving Jeon a medal is a fabrication.

A combination of keyword and reverse image searches led to a photo taken by a New York Times photographer on November 16, 2018 (archived link). 

The photo is captioned: "President Trump gave a Presidential Medal of Freedom to Miriam Adelson -- a doctor and philanthropist who, along with her husband, Sheldon Adelson, is a substantial donor to Republican candidates."

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Screenshot comparison of the altered image (left) and the New York Times' photo from November 2018 (right)

Footage from the event was also posted on CBS News's YouTube channel, with the moment Trump awards Adelson the medal -- the highest US civilian award -- at the video's 25:05 mark (archived link).

Adelson is listed among the official recipients of the medal on the Trump White House website (archived link). Jeon's name does not appear on the list.

The image of Jeon used in the doctored image matches his profile picture from the website of a civil service cram school, where he previously taught Korean history (archived link).

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Screenshot comparison of the doctored image (left) and Jeon's profile image on a cram school website (right)

AFP has previously debunked other doctored images involving Trump and South Korean political figures, including similar manipulated visuals falsely showing Trump in a video conference with Yoon.