Clip of Lee Jae Myung laughing predates former lawmaker's passing
Chang Je-won, a former three-term People Power Party (PPP) lawmaker and close associate of former president Yoon Suk Yeol, was found dead at his personal office on March 31.
"A police officer said there were 'no signs of foul play' at the scene and his death was likely by suicide, though an investigation is under way into the exact circumstances," reported the Yonhap News Agency, adding that a note "presumably written by Chang" was also found (archived link).
Chang had been under police investigation over allegations of sexual assault stemming from his time as a vice president of a university in Busan.
The clip appears to show Lee and Prime Minister Kim Min-seok trying to hold back laughter while listening to former Democratic Party floor leader Park Chan-dae. The video's narrator suggests Park was speaking about Chang's death.
"After Chang took his own life at a residence in Gil-dong in March 2025, this scene was brought to light again by internet users," says the narrator.
Image
Screenshot of the false Instagram post captured on July 21, 2025, with a red X added by AFP
The same clip was widely shared by multiple right-wing social media users on YouTube and Facebook.
"This gives me goosebumps, how can they call themselves human," read a comment on one of the posts.
Another said: "Lee Jae Myung lacks basic decency, and they elected this guy president."
But the clip precedes Chang's death by weeks.
Party meeting
A keyword search on Google found matching footage published by KBS on March 7, about three weeks before Chang's death (archived link).
The KBS footage shows Lee and Kim -- who led the Democratic Party at the time -- chortling during a regular open-to-the-press party meeting as floor leader Park Chan-dae criticised Chang over the sexual assault allegations.
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Screenshot comparisons of the falsely shared clip (left) and the KBS footage (right), with timestamps added by AFP
Park had attacked Chang's decision to step down from the PPP, saying his resignation alone was not enough to address the serious accusations.
Park highlighted a text message Chang allegedly sent to his accuser -- "How do you think I feel if you just leave me like this?" -- repeating it in a mocking tone and drawing the suppressed laughter from Lee and Kim (archived link).
Park can be seen reading the text message in footage of the March 7 meeting posted on YouTube by broadcaster JTV, at its 1:36:07 mark (archived link).
Lee's reaction was also covered by local media outlets JTBC and MBC (archived here and here).
As of July 22, there have been no official reports or videos on the Democratic Party website showing Lee's response to Chang's death, and the party did not issue a separate official response (archived link).
AFP has debunked multiple false claims about Lee, who is a frequent target of misinformation online.
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