S.korea re-named Chinese poster without baseline foreign penetration requirements

It was an image of a celebration poster in a celebration poster following Yoon Suk Yeol’s removal as South Korean president, which surfaced, claiming it proved the disconnection of the opposition and China from him. But the material comes from local anti-king rallyists who posted multilingual posters on Seoul explaining protests against foreigners by the former president.

“As expected, both the Democrats and the Chinese are in Cahoot,” wrote on the Korean online forum Nate Pann on April 7.

The post continues: “This gives me chill.” “The Chinese say they protect the freedom of our country. It’s crazy.”

Its image shows a simplified Chinese poster, along with a partial Korean translation that reads: “The Constitutional Court upheld Mr. Yoon’s impeachment. We won!”

“In 123 days since December 3, we have finally driven the troops that dreamed of dictatorship out of the Republic of Korea!” The poster continued.

“This is not only a victory for South Korea’s democracy and civil society, but also a beacon of hope for all countries that strive for democratization.”

Screenshot of Nate Pann Post released on April 10, 2025

X, Threads, Facebook and other posts from South Korean news media news reports shared similar images today.

They surfaced a few days after the Constitutional Court unanimously ruled to remove him from his disastrous martial law declaration (archive).

They also object to the context of revival in anti-China misinformation.

The former leader defended his shocking move, claiming that external forces, North Korea, anti-state elements are working together to threaten national security and sovereignty (archived link).

He specifically accused unidentified Chinese of flying drones for photographing the spy agency building in Seoul and the American Airlines docking in Busan.

However, AFP’s analysis found that the Chinese posters were actually created by local groups.

Visitor information

AFP found a poster near Gwanghwamun Gate in Seoul on April 9, located in Hyoja-Ro 12, Jongno-Gu (and archived here and here).

The gate is the main entrance to the palace of the Joseph dynasty, the last kingdom of South Korea, and is popular among foreign tourists. The area is a key place for the mass anti-value protests to remove him.

AFP confirmed the location by comparing the building behind the poster with the ones visible in the background of the photo shared by the fake post.

In fact, it has a Korean disclaimer with a small font printed on it that says: “This is a message created voluntarily by citizens who often receive questions from foreigners at gatherings.”

It also has a QR code in the lower right corner that links to a Google Forms page (archive link) for general queries.

A reporter from Australia and New Zealand fluently analyzed the text of the poster in Chinese and found that it was a sign of translation from a Korean.

These include a placeholder often used as the name of a legal document, and the term “beacon of hope” sounds unnatural and is not common in Chinese standard use.

Similar posters included in other nearby languages ​​indicate that they were posted by supporters (archived links) of Korean rally organizer “Bisang Action” (Action).

“Dear visitors, the big protests and crowds may surprise you!” Read one of them written in Korean, Chinese, English, Japanese, Thai and German.

They provided brief information about the rally in the area and included requests such as asking visitors not to take close-up photos of the faces of protesters.

Scan the QR code on the English poster to direct readers to the same Google form page.

AFP has debunked other misinformation surrounding Yin Wushu and the subsequent impeachment of the political crisis.