Image of handcuffed ex-S. Korea president at eye exam is AI-generated
- Published on August 27, 2025 at 05:38
- 5 min read
- By Hailey JO, AFP South Korea
Copyright © AFP 2017-2025. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
The images, appearing to show Yoon sat handcuffed while undergoing an eye exam and a close-up of an ankle monitor, were shared on X on August 18, 2025.
Yoon was arrested after he briefly imposed martial law on December 3, and is on trial for a litany of charges, including insurrection, abuse of power, obstruction of official duty and document forgery (archived here and here).
"They photographed the handcuffs like this -- didn't they even bother to cover them with a towel?" reads part of the Korean-language caption.
"What on earth is the Lee Jae Myung administration doing? Is it appropriate to show such an explicit image of a former president in handcuffs?"
South Korean administrative regulations require prosecutors to take "necessary measures to ensure that the wearing of handcuffs is not exposed to the general public" (archived link). Police follow similar guidelines, and Korean media will often blur handcuffs on suspects.
The same images were also shared in similar Facebook, Instagram and X posts, following local media reports that Yoon was taken to hospital while wearing handcuffs and an ankle monitor (archived link).
Local broadcaster MBN also released footage showing Yoon at Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital in the city of Anyang, near where he is being detained (archived link).
The hospital visit came after Yoon's lawyers accused investigators of "human rights abuses" -- alleging the former president had been denied regular eye treatment and that prosecutors had physically abused him when they tried to bring him in for questioning (archived here and here).
The lawyers said Yoon suffers from "several underlying conditions that pose significant challenges to maintaining his health", making it difficult for him to fully cooperate with ongoing investigations.
The Ministry of Justice dismissed allegations of human rights abuses against Yoon, adding handcuffing is a "standard procedure prescribed by law" when inmates are taken outside (archived link). The ministry also said he had been receiving appropriate medical treatment.
The circulating images, however, do not show Yoon during the hospital visit.
'Synthetically generated'
A reverse image search on Google of the picture appearing to show Yoon getting an eye exam led to a June 16 YouTube video with a description that includes the disclosure "Altered or synthetic content" (archived link).
According to YouTube, the disclosure indicates the video contains "content that has been meaningfully altered or synthetically generated" (archived link).
It explains this is displayed when the creator of the video discloses the use of altered or synthetic content, if the creator uses YouTube's generative AI tools, or if the content contains data indicating it was generated using AI.
Visual errors in the image also indicate it was created with AI.
Yoon is sitting on the doctor's side of the eye exam equipment rather than the patient's side, and facial features -- specifically his ear -- differ from genuine photos of Yoon taken by AFP.
Despite rapid advances, AI still produces visual errors and careful examination of an image is a key tool for determining its authenticity.
A separate reverse image search of the picture of an ankle monitor led to an article published by the Yonhap News Agency in July 2019 (archived link).
It has been repeatedly used by local media in their coverage of sexual offenders (archived here, here and here).
AFP has also previously debunked other false claims about Yoon's detention.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
