Video falsely claimed as police raid on S.Korea home for displaying pro-Yoon banner
- Published on May 15, 2026 at 08:02
- 4 min read
- By Hawon Jung, AFP South Korea
Jailed ex-South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol is standing trial for attempting to impose martial law in 2024 in violation of the Constitution. But a video circulating online that purports to show a recent police raid on a home for simply displaying a banner supporting Yoon is false. The raid, which actually took place in January, was part of an investigation into the illegal use of political donations involving the home's resident -- an activist with close ties to a far-right party.
"(Police) raid on a family home simply for hanging a 'Yoon Again' banner," reads a Korean-language caption in a video shared on Threads on April 29, 2026.
The minute-long video begins with three people in dark suits entering what appears to be an apartment flat, with a person filming the scene saying off-camera, "this is a situation where they forcibly opened the door."
The video then shows two photos of several individuals, including the three seen earlier, loading a big blue box -- typically used by law enforcement to carry confiscated items -- into a van parked outside an apartment building. A crowd gathered around them, with some filming the scene.
The final segment depicts a middle-aged man speaking about personal freedom and human rights in front of the apartment building.
The footage resurfaced in late April when a South Korean court handed Yoon -- already sentenced to life in prison in February for leading an insurrection -- an additional seven years in jail in a separate trial for obstruction of justice. Yoon has appealed both verdicts (archive here, here)
In December 2024, Yoon made a shock late-night national televised address, raising the spectre of North Korean influence and "anti-state forces" to declare the suspension of civilian rule. But martial law lasted only about six hours as lawmakers raced to the assembly building and voted it down in an emergency session.
In subsequent months, Yoon was impeached, removed from power and put on trial over a litany of allegations connected to his proclamation.
His downfall divided the nation as his supporters took to the street to protest against his impeachment and repeated widely disproven far-right claims of vote hacking promoted by Yoon. Many protestors carried banners emblazoned with "Yoon Again" -- a slogan demanding his return to power.
Similar claims spread across X, Threads, Instagram, often using the same footage or screenshots with the title, "Today's news in South Korea."
The posts sparked comments such as "Police raid on a home of an ordinary person simply for hanging a banner at her home?" "Is this really a possible reality?"
But the raid occured in January and was unrelated to a pro-Yoon banner displayed at home. It was part of a criminal investigation into the alleged misuse of political donations involving a far-right activist living in that apartment.
A reverse image search led to a Threads post on January 27, 2026, that shared almost the same set of footage, with a caption, "...Patriotic Banner chief Kim Mi-Young forced to open door...and words from a lawyer." (archive link).
"Patriotic Banner" is a civic group known for hanging street banners in support of Yoon or carrying anti-Chinese messages and election-rigging conspiracy theories (archive link).
On January 27, the group's Threads account issued an "emergency announcement" revealing Kim's home address south of Seoul and urging YouTubers to livestream the scene of an upcoming police raid (archive link).
Several livestreams shared on YouTube -- all described as showing a police raid on Kim's residence -- captured officials entering a first-floor apartment and leaving two hours later carrying a large blue box marked "Police." Scenes from those videos match the recently-circulated footage.
The middle-aged man featured in the latest clip was identified as a local lawyer whose Facebook account is filled with posts about election-rigging conspiracy theories and prayers for US President Donald Trump (archive link)
In 2025, the national election commission requested the authorities to investigate Kim and the leader of Tomorrow and Future, a fringe far-right party she had collaborated with, for using unregistered or personal bank accounts to accept donations and to use some of the funds to pay for banners -- in violation of political finance laws (archive link).
The police raid on Kim's home was widely reported by media outlets including MBC TV, which aired footage matching the recently-circulated video and YouTube livestreams (archived here, here, here).
In its January 27 Threads post, Patriotic Banner also announced it could "no longer collaborate" with Tomorrow and Future, urging supporters to stop sending donations to the party.
The police confirmed the January raid on Kim's home when contacted by AFP on May 13, but declined to provide further details, citing the ongoing investigation.
Kim did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.
AFP has previously debunked other misleading claims that surfaced following Yoon's impeachment.
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