Fabricated pro-Yoon subtitles added to CIA chief's interview

Published on July 8, 2025 at 10:59
3 min read
By SHIM Kyu-Seok, AFP South Korea

After South Korean prosecutors requested a new warrant to detain impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol, a clip surfaced in posts falsely claiming the United States' top intelligence official called for Yoon's return as leader. The Korean-language subtitles added to the Fox News report were fabricated and CIA chief John Ratcliffe made no mention of Yoon or South Korea during the interview.

"CIA director: 'A leader like Yoon Suk Yeol is needed to stop China's rise'," reads a Korean-language Facebook post shared on July 7, 2025.

The 13-second clip, which is absent of audio, shows John Ratcliffe being interviewed on Fox News; the English-language news chyron says, "Inside the CIA's strategy to counter China's rise" (archived link).

Korean-language captions above the chyron read: "John Ratcliffe (CIA director): To counter China's rise, allies like South Korea are very important. For South Korea to remain a trustworthy allied country, someone like President Yoon Suk Yeol needs to be its leader."

The posts appeared after South Korea's special counsel requested a new detention warrant for Yoon in connection with his failed martial law bid on December 3, 2024 (archived link).

The special counsel said they were requesting the warrant on charges including abuse of power and obstruction of special official duties, and Yoon had also been charged with "falsification of official documents".

Yoon was formally stripped of office in April, after being impeached and suspended by lawmakers over his attempt to subvert civilian rule, which saw armed soldiers deployed to parliament.

Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured on July 8, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

The clip was also shared on multiple South Korean online communities like Naver Band and Ilbe.

"President Yoon only tried to restore the people's sovereignty through martial law, it is only right that the US wants him back," read a comment on one of the posts.

Another said: "The CIA truly knows how to evaluate a person."

The clip's captions, however, are fabricated.

China-focused interview

A keyword search on Google found the clip was taken from Ratcliffe's June 7 interview with Lara Trump, which is available on the Fox News verified YouTube channel (archived link).

The segment corresponding to the miscaptioned clip runs from about 3:03 to 3:21 marks, where Ratcliffe says: "To your point Lara, when I was DNI (Director of National Intelligence) for President Trump in his first administration, you recall we were accused of outsizing China as a threat."

He continues, "It was a peaceful China, right? Now after Covid, after the Taiwan aggression, after flying spycraft over the United States for eight days during the Biden administration, stealing our intellectual property, taking advantage of us on trade, no one is saying that anymore."

Screenshot comparison of the falsely captioned video (left) and the Fox News interview posted to YouTube (right), with timestamps included below

At no point in the interview does Ratcliffe mention South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, or South Korean domestic politics.

Other excerpts of the interview on the Fox News website also show the interview focused on US-China relations, spycraft, and the reforming of the CIA (archived here and here).

As of July 8, there have been no official reports about Ratcliffe or any other CIA official discussing Yoon.

AFP has also previously debunked other false claims about US President Donald Trump supposedly expressing support for Yoon.

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