Latest news with #Ilbe
AFP
11-07-2025
- Politics
- AFP
Old Trump remarks falsely linked to former South Korean president's arrest
"President Trump's response to news of President Yoon Suk Yeol's detention," reads the title of a post shared on South Korean far-right forum Ilbe on July 10, 2025. The post was shared hours after Yoon was detained and held in a solitary cell pending investigations into accusations of insurrection related to his suspension of civilian rule in December 2024 (archived link). An attached video shows Trump telling reporters: "Thank you, it's a very sad day for America. If you look at what's happening, this is a persecution of a political opponent. This was never supposed to happen." A Korean-language translation of his remarks are included in the post. Image Screenshot of the false Ilbe post captured on July 10, 2025, with a red X added by AFP Yoon was taken into custody at the Seoul Detention Center on July 10 after an hours-long review of an arrest warrant by a Seoul court. A special counsel probing Yoon's case had filed for his arrest days earlier citing concerns the former president might destroy crucial evidence as the investigation expanded into alleged insurrection. Yoon was removed from office by the Constitutional Court in April, prompting a snap poll that resulted in the election of ex-opposition leader Lee Jae-myung. The same clip purportedly showing Trump's response to Yoon's detention also circulated among right-wing users on Facebook, YouTube and South Korean online forums including Naver Band. "We agree with you Mr President, Lee is forcibly persecuting and imprisoning President Yoon Suk Yeol," read a comment on one of the posts. Another said: "Trump will now rain down tariffs as punishment for this." But Trump was not speaking about Yoon's detention. Trump charges A keyword search for Trump's remarks on YouTube led to longer footage posted on the verified YouTube channel of US broadcaster CBS News on August 3, 2023 (archived link). The YouTube video is titled, "Trump says it's 'a very sad day for America' after 3rd criminal arraignment". He was speaking after he pleaded not guilty to four federal charges stemming from his alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 US presidential election he lost to Joe Biden (archived link). The falsely shared version of the footage that circulated on South Korean social media appears to be a cropped version of a YouTube short posted by the Reuters news agency (archived link). Image Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared clip (left) and the Reuters video (right) In the longer video, Trump's other comments show he was referring to himself -- not any foreign leader -- as he references the 2024 US presidential election he would go on to win (archived link). "This is the persecution of the person that is leading by very, very substantial numbers in the Republican primary and leading Biden by a lot," he says. "If you can't beat him, you persecute him or you prosecute him, you can't let this happen in America." Trump's remarks were covered in US and international news reports at the time (archived here, here and here). AFP has debunked multiple other false posts claiming Trump has expressed support for Yoon.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Digitally altered photo misleads on Trump's response to South Korea presidential election
"As soon as [Lee Jae-myung] was inaugurated as president, 'Yoon Again' was spotted on Trump's cellphone," reads part of a Korean-language Facebook post shared on June 5. "It means President Yoon is still the only leader Trump accepts." A photo attached to the post appears to show US President Donald Trump holding up a phone with "Yoon Again" displayed on its screen; the slogan was adopted by impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol's supporters who believe his removal from office was illegitimate (archived link). The posts were shared a day after Lee won South Korea's snap presidential election by a large margin, ending months of political unrest triggered by Yoon's imposition of martial law and subsequent impeachment (archived link). The same doctored image and claim were widely circulated in Facebook groups backing Yoon and other conservative figures in South Korea, as well as on far-right forum Ilbe. "President Trump will correct the results of South Korea's presidential election as he seems to have watched it closely," read a comment on one of the posts. Another said: "Trump is the only ally to President Yoon still standing, let's put our trust in him." As of June 6, Trump had not called the new South Korean president, with analysts saying any further delay may signal reluctance on the US president's part to engage with the new leader (archived link). The circulating image, however, has been altered. A keyword search found the circulating image was altered from a photo taken by AFP photographer Saul Loeb on May 30 at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, as Trump disembarked from Air Force One. Trump's phone lock screen in fact shows a picture of the president pointing forwards, not a message of support for Yoon. The date displayed on the phone screen also reads "May 30" -- four days before South Korea's presidential election. According to reports by MSNBC and Euronews, the image of Trump's phone screen was widely discussed on social media, with his supporters praising the president and his critics calling him "self-absorbed" (archived here and here). Another photo taken by Loeb also shows Trump's phone screen did not display a message of support for Yoon. AFP has debunked multiple false claims about Trump's supposed opinion on South Korea's impeached president.
AFP
06-06-2025
- Politics
- AFP
Digitally altered photo misleads on Trump's response to South Korea presidential election
"As soon as [Lee Jae-myung] was inaugurated as president, 'Yoon Again' was spotted on Trump's cellphone," reads part of a Korean-language Facebook post shared on June 5. "It means President Yoon is still the only leader Trump accepts." A photo attached to the post appears to show US President Donald Trump holding up a phone with "Yoon Again" displayed on its screen; the slogan was adopted by impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol's supporters who believe his removal from office was illegitimate (archived link). The posts were shared a day after Lee won South Korea's snap presidential election by a large margin, ending months of political unrest triggered by Yoon's imposition of martial law and subsequent impeachment (archived link). Image Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post, captured on June 5, 2025 The same doctored image and claim were widely circulated in Facebook groups backing Yoon and other conservative figures in South Korea, as well as on far-right forum Ilbe. "President Trump will correct the results of South Korea's presidential election as he seems to have watched it closely," read a comment on one of the posts. Another said: "Trump is the only ally to President Yoon still standing, let's put our trust in him." As of June 6, Trump had not called the new South Korean president, with analysts saying any further delay may signal reluctance on the US president's part to engage with the new leader (archived link). The circulating image, however, has been altered. Doctored phone screen A keyword search found the circulating image was altered from a photo taken by AFP photographer Saul Loeb on May 30 at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, as Trump disembarked from Air Force One. Trump's phone lock screen in fact shows a picture of the president pointing forwards, not a message of support for Yoon. The date displayed on the phone screen also reads "May 30" -- four days before South Korea's presidential election. Image Screenshot comparison of the altered image shared on Facebook (left) and the AFP photo (right) According to reports by MSNBC and Euronews, the image of Trump's phone screen was widely discussed on social media, with his supporters praising the president and his critics calling him "self-absorbed" (archived here and here). Another photo taken by Loeb also shows Trump's phone screen did not display a message of support for Yoon. AFP has debunked multiple false claims about Trump's supposed opinion on South Korea's impeached president.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Fake subtitles misrepresent Trump comments as insults against former S. Korean president
"There is no other idiot like this, the boiled cowhead," reads a Korean-language post on Facebook on April 16, referring to Moon by a slur based on a term previously used by a North Korean government agency. The approximately one-minute video in the post includes three clips of Trump: one during a meeting with Moon and two different public addresses. Korean-language captions throughout the video claim they represent "actual comments from Trump after he met Moon Jae-in." The first accuses Moon of "putting on a show" for a reporter from the South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh while Trump watches him pathetically. The second claims it depicts Trump insulting Moon's intelligence, and the third is described as Trump mocking Moon for reading off a piece of paper. The same video was shared alongside similar claims on Facebook and Ilbe, a far-right South Korean forum, while the third clip in the compilation previously circulated in multiple South Korean social media posts that also claimed Trump was mocking Moon. The former president is a regular target of right-wing misinformation, debunked by AFP here, here, and here. Some users left comments indicating they believed the captions were accurate. One user wrote: "Look at that idiot [Moon] laughing, oblivious to the fact that he is being mocked and laughed at." "This is a national humiliation," wrote another user. But the subtitles misrepresent Trump's actual comments. A keyword search found the first video of Trump seated next to Moon in the Oval Office corresponds to footage of a meeting between the two leaders at the White House on May 22, 2018 during Moon's visit to the United States (archived link). As Moon listens to a question from a South Korean reporter, Trump remarks, "He's a friendly reporter. They're friends. So let them -- like you. Except he kills me. For a friendly reporter, he kills me." The remarks are also recorded in the Trump White House archives from his first term in office (archived link). The second clip, which the false subtitles claim is a recent Trump speech, was actually delivered in Missouri on November 30, 2017 and can be seen in a video uploaded by the Washington Post the same day (archived link). "And when I was in Asia, I spoke to a couple of countries about it, and they looked like this, you know what this is?" Trump can be heard in the corresponding section of the video. He makes a movement with hunched-over shoulders and nods as he speaks. The full speech shows that while Trump was mocking Asian leaders' gestures, he was actually referring to how the United States was protecting wealthy Asian countries without receiving fair due -- accusations he has made repeatedly regarding defence cost-sharing negotiations with South Korea and Japan (archived link). The comments can also be read in the Trump White House archives (archived link). The final video of Trump reading off a piece of paper was taken from a rally in West Virginia on September 29, 2018 (archived link). The false captions claim Trump was mocking South Korea's Democratic Party as being "easy to deal with" and imitating Moon with the gesture, but he was in fact taking a jab at one of his predecessors, George H. W. Bush (archived link). "It's so easy to be presidential," Trump says as he stares at a piece of paper. "All I have to do is: 'Thank you very much for being here ladies and gentlemen. It's great to see you all, you're great Americans.'" He goes on to say: "Thousand points of light. Which nobody has really figured out" -- a reference to an expression famously used by Bush in his 1989 inaugural address (archived link).
AFP
18-04-2025
- Politics
- AFP
Fake subtitles misrepresent Trump comments as insults against former S. Korean president
"There is no other idiot like this, the boiled cowhead," reads a Korean-language post on Facebook on April 16, referring to Moon by a slur based on a term previously used by a North Korean government agency. The approximately one-minute video in the post includes three clips of Trump: one during a meeting with Moon and two different public addresses. Korean-language captions throughout the video claim they represent "actual comments from Trump after he met Moon Jae-in." The first accuses Moon of "putting on a show" for a reporter from the South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh while Trump watches him pathetically. The second claims it depicts Trump insulting Moon's intelligence, and the third is described as Trump mocking Moon for reading off a piece of paper. Image Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post, captured April 17 The same video was shared alongside similar claims on Facebook and Ilbe, a far-right South Korean forum, while the third clip in the compilation previously circulated in multiple South Korean social media posts that also claimed Trump was mocking Moon. The former president is a regular target of right-wing misinformation, debunked by AFP here, here, and here. Some users left comments indicating they believed the captions were accurate. One user wrote: "Look at that idiot [Moon] laughing, oblivious to the fact that he is being mocked and laughed at." "This is a national humiliation," wrote another user. But the subtitles misrepresent Trump's actual comments. First clip A keyword search found the first video of Trump seated next to Moon in the Oval Office corresponds to footage of a meeting between the two leaders at the White House on May 22, 2018 during Moon's visit to the United States (archived link). Image Screenshot comparison between the 0:13 mark in the misleading clip (left) and the corresponding section in footage of the meeting posted to YouTube As Moon listens to a question from a South Korean reporter, Trump remarks, "He's a friendly reporter. They're friends. So let them -- like you. Except he kills me. For a friendly reporter, he kills me." The remarks are also recorded in the Trump White House archives from his first term in office (archived link). Second clip The second clip, which the false subtitles claim is a recent Trump speech, was actually delivered in Missouri on November 30, 2017 and can be seen in a video uploaded by the Washington Post the same day (archived link). "And when I was in Asia, I spoke to a couple of countries about it, and they looked like this, you know what this is?" Trump can be heard in the corresponding section of the video. He makes a movement with hunched-over shoulders and nods as he speaks. The full speech shows that while Trump was mocking Asian leaders' gestures, he was actually referring to how the United States was protecting wealthy Asian countries without receiving fair due -- accusations he has made repeatedly regarding defence cost-sharing negotiations with South Korea and Japan (archived link). Image Screenshot comparison between the 0:36 mark in the misleading clip (left) and the corresponding section in footage of the speech posted to YouTube The comments can also be read in the Trump White House archives (archived link). Third clip The final video of Trump reading off a piece of paper was taken from a rally in West Virginia on September 29, 2018 (archived link). The false captions claim Trump was mocking South Korea's Democratic Party as being "easy to deal with" and imitating Moon with the gesture, but he was in fact taking a jab at one of his predecessors, George H. W. Bush (archived link). "It's so easy to be presidential," Trump says as he stares at a piece of paper. "All I have to do is: 'Thank you very much for being here ladies and gentlemen. It's great to see you all, you're great Americans.'" He goes on to say: "Thousand points of light. Which nobody has really figured out" -- a reference to an expression famously used by Bush in his 1989 inaugural address (archived link).
