White House meeting photo altered to denigrate new South Korean administration

"Selfie stick? Look at where our national reputation is going," reads Korean-language text over an image shared August 31, 2025 on Instagram.

The picture appears to show Kang taking a photo using a selfie stick during Lee's August 25 meeting with Trump in the Oval Office. The caption says it was "provided by the presidential office".

It surfaced days after the leaders' meeting, during which Lee and Trump discussed the countries' alliance, trade, North Korea and Seoul's recent political upheavals (archived link).

Image

Screenshot of the false Instagram post captured September 3, 2025, with an orange X added by AFP

The same image also spread among conservative users on Facebook and Instagram, where it was annotated with text that reads: "Crash in national prestige. Typical lefties, just look at their level of intelligence."

Comments on the posts also suggest many users believed the image was real.

"Did Kang go there on vacation? How can he do something like this at a meeting where key state affairs are discussed?" one user said.

Another said: "Shows how lightly these lefties take governing, the people were foolish to elect them." 

However, the image has been doctored.

A reverse image search on Google led to the unaltered photo on Kang's official Facebook and Instagram accounts, with no selfie stick present (archived here and here).

Image

Screenshot comparison of the altered image (L) and the photo Kang shared on social media

Several domestic media outlets, including the JoongAng Ilbo and the Korea Herald, published the same photo (archived here and here). 

Moreover, footage of the full meeting shows Kang, who sat across from the two leaders throughout their discussion, was not holding a selfie stick (archived link).

AFP has debunked other false claims surrounding the recent White House meeting.