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S.Korea protesters targeted with ‘Chinese milk cartons’ misinformation
“Communist Chinese milk cartons appear at the impeachment rally,” read a Korean-language Facebook post shared on December 8.
It showed pictures of protesters holding homemade carton candle holders with Chinese characters written on them.
“Communist China couldn’t restrain itself given talks of election fraud,” the post continued, referring to spurious claims of Chinese involvement in widely debunked allegations of rigging in South Korea’s April parliamentary elections, which the liberal opposition won by a landslide (archived link).
The posts surfaced as a South Korean legislative push to impeach Yoon over his short-lived suspension of civilian rule fell through (archived link).
The six-hour enforcement of martial law on December 3 saw troops sent to the National Election Commission (NEC)’s headquarters and parliament in an apparent — but failed — attempt to prevent lawmakers from voting down Yoon’s shock move (archived link).
Opposition lawmakers and critics later raised suspicions that the orders to raid the NEC were based on Yoon’s credence in far-right theories that legislative elections had been falsified (archived link).
Despite remaining in office, a clutch of investigations has been closing in on Yoon and his close allies, including a probe for alleged insurrection.
Screenshot of the false post shared on Facebook, captured December 10
Similar claims were shared on Facebook pages and groups with thousands of followers.
Comments suggested many Facebook users were misled to believe the so-called “Chinese” candle holders were evidence of China’s involvement in attempts to subvert Yoon.
“They’re not even trying to hide their agents,” one user wrote.
“I knew they had planted spies in our country to get rid of President Yoon,” another said.
‘Recycled Taiwanese cartons’
A keyword search found the photos shared on Facebook correspond to the 1:55:34 mark in South Korean broadcaster SBS’s broadcast of a rally held in front of South Korea’s National Assembly pending the ultimately failed vote to impeach Yoon on December 7 (archived link).
The scene showing demonstrators holding two types of milk cartons with Chinese characters written on them went viral online, spurring similar claims of Chinese involvement in the bid to overthrow Yoon on far-right online media.
A Facebook search found a woman named Go Geum-sook responded to the claims by clarifying the screenshot showed employees of her store Almang Marketplace in Seoul, which sells upcycled goods (archived here and here).
Screenshot of Go Geum-sook’s Facebook post, captured December 10
“We are not Chinese and have South Korean identity cards,” she wrote on Facebook, calling the claim “fake news.”
“[The milk cartons] are just recycled material we decided to use as candle holders instead of using new paper cups.”
Contacted by AFP, Lee Joo-eun, who runs the store with Go, confirmed she attended the protest along with staff members who “went to Taiwan over the holidays and brought back used milk cartons they had drunk during the trip.”
Taiwan regards itself as a sovereign nation and has its own government, military and currency.
Beijing insists the island is part of its territory and has not ruled out using force to bring it under its control.
“We used these as candle holders as we attended the candlelight rally because they were colourful,” Lee explained.
She said far-right groups had misrepresented the picture as evidence of communist China’s involvement in the candlelight rally.
“We are looking into legal measures against propagators of these claims online,” she added.
An AFP journalist confirmed the characters shown on the cartons are written in traditional Chinese characters, which is usually used in Taiwan but not in mainland China.
Keyword searches found similar milk products available on retailer Carrefour’s Taiwanese website, which said they were made on the self-ruled island (archived here and here).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the milk cartons in SBS’s broadcast (left) and corresponding products — I-Mei High Fibre Soy Milk and Uni-President Black Milk Tea – sold on Carrefour’s Taiwanese website (right):
Screenshot comparison of the milk cartons in SBS’s broadcast (left) and matching products — I-Mei High Fibre Soy Milk and Uni-President Black Milk Tea – sold on Carrefour’s Taiwanese website (right)
AFP has debunked multiple claims related to South Korea’s short-lived martial law, including a fake announcement that Yoon imposed a nationwide 11pm curfew and a photo falsely shared as Chinese protesters calling for his impeachment.
FACT CHECK AFP