South Korean opposition party leader's photo altered to show him with 'boycott Japan' banner
A picture of Cho Kuk, a minor third party leader in South Korea, has been edited to falsely portray him holding a banner calling for a boycott of Japanese imports. Posts with the doctored image have circulated in Facebook groups supporting incumbent President Yoon Suk Yeol and went on to say it showed Cho tried to drum up support for his party by stirring anti-Japanese sentiment. The original image, however, showed him holding a sign calling on voters to support his party at an election rally in April 2024.
"Kukki, not wanting to lose to the Democratic Party, attempted to instigate anti-Japanese sentiment yesterday," read the Korean-language post shared on Facebook on July 4, referring to minor opposition party leader Cho Kuk by a nickname.
Cho, a former justice minister under former president Moon Jae-in who founded the Rebuilding Korea Party, appeared to be holding a banner calling for a boycott of Japanese goods.
The same banner was widely used during Moon's term after South Korea and its neighbour Japan traded tit-for-tat economic blows over a dispute on compensation for wartime forced labour.
South Korean progressives have long been wary of upgrading security cooperation with Japan into an alliance (archived link).
