Fabricated image of burning South Korean newspaper office shared as satire since 2006

This article is more than one year old.
Published on May 27, 2021 at 05:10
1 min read
By Richard KANG, AFP South Korea

An image purporting to show a huge fire at the headquarters of a South Korean newspaper has been shared repeatedly on social media. The image, however, has been digitally altered. It has circulated in satirical posts since at least 2006. There have been no credible reports of a fire at the building as of May 27, 2021.

The image was shared here on Facebook on May 23, 2021.

Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post, taken on May 26, 2021.

The caption claims the photo shows “Chosun”, a reference to major South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo.

Comments from some Facebook users indicated they thought the image was genuine.

“Wow, it’s burning well. Burn and vanish forever!” one person commented.

Another wrote: “Please, burn more and more”.

The newspaper has come under scrutiny in South Korea over its coverage of the pandemic.

The image has also been shared on South Korean online platforms Bobaedream; Clien; as well as Daum Blog.

However, the image has been digitally altered.

There has never been a major fire reported at the headquarters of Chosun Ilbo, according to keyword searches on Google and South Korean portal website Naver.

A reverse image search on Google found the photo began to circulate as early as 2006 among South Korean online users in satirical posts.

It was shared here on a website called “Anti Chosun [Ilbo] Community”.

“Whoever made this did a great job with foresight!” reads a comment from a post on the website in 2006.

Below is a screenshot comparison between the photo shared in the misleading Facebook post (L) and the picture of the Chosun Ilbo headquarters taken by AFP on May 25, 2021 (R):

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Fabricated image of burning South Korean newspaper office shared as satire since 2006

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