As the deadly wildfires rage in southeast South Korea, social media posts shared a fabricated news report that did not intentionally start one of the fires based on Chinese exchange students. The alleged screenshots were created by combining two real but unrelated articles pioneer Business newspaper.
Assuming a screenshot of the news report spread on Facebook on March 24, 2025, when multiple wildfires burned in southeast South Korea (archived links).
The wildfires were the largest and most deadly on record, with the number of deaths caused by the fire as of March 28 (a link to archive).
“‘Half-explosive Chinese Books’ The suspect in a series of fires on the hill is a Chinese exchange student.” On a Korean title, with a picture of a silhouette of a firefighter with an angry hell.
The text below the image says: “The size of the 4,600 football fields damaged by wildfires at the same time… The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters said ‘3,286 hectares of forest were burned’.”
Facebook posts, by lawyer He had previously spread unfounded claims of voter fraud, demanding a “comprehensive investigation and communication review of Chinese exchange students.” It also claimed that “the nationwide wildfire terrorist attack is suspected to be a joint action between China and North Korea.”
Screenshot of False Facebook post was captured on March 28, 2025
The so-called screenshots are also distributed on Korean forums Ilbe and YouTube. This is a surge in anti-Chinese false information in the country after an attempt by impeachment president Yoon Suk Yeol in December 2024.
Yoon defended his brief moratorium on civilian rule by claiming external forces, North Korea and anti-state elements work together to threaten national security and sovereignty (archived links).
He also specifically accused unidentified Chinese of flying drones for photographing the spy agency building in Seoul and the U.S. aircraft carrier docking in Busan.
However, the supposed news story rotates online.
As On March 28, there was no official report that Chinese exchange students deliberately set up wildfires. The Home Office said the fire was initiated by a serious visitor accident, “spark from the brush cutter” (link to archive).
one The combination of reverse image and keyword search on Google found news articles created by splicing two separate, unrelated reports from Korean pioneers newspaper.
The title comes from a February 21 article involving a Chinese exchange student’s arrest for allegedly igniting an open area on the Ursan University campus (archive link).
The report said a Chinese book found at the scene helped local police identify the suspect.
The photos and subsequent text originated from a March 23 article about damage caused by ongoing wildfires (archive link).
Screenshots Comparison of screenshots of the Pioneer Business Report and the Production Terms (c) from February 21 (L) and March 23 (r) and elements highlighted by AFP
“It’s a pity that we see our article circulating this way,” said Moon Yang-Gyu, head of the platform response team at Herald Business, adding that the newspaper is looking at potential legal actions.
