South Korean police investigate altered image of 'opposition leader in jail' ahead of polls

South Korean police launched an investigation into potential unlawful election campaigning after an altered image that appeared to show opposition leader Lee Jae-myung in prison was distributed in central Seoul ahead of polls on April 10. The image -- which also circulated in Facebook groups with tens of thousands of members -- added Lee's head to a photo of a mannequin in a mock prison cell.

"Ugh, is he a human?" read the Korean-language caption to an image shared on Facebook on March 19, 2024.

It appeared to show Lee Jae-myung, leader of the opposition Democratic Party and a vocal critic of President Yoon Suk Yeol, sitting on the floor of a jail cell.

As the image circulated online, Lee was seeking a second term as a legislative representative for a district in Incheon in general elections planned for April 10.

Text next to the image listed the Democratic Party leader's alleged crimes, and concluded: "What I truly can't comprehend is how one person has possibly done all of this."

The same image circulated elsewhere on Facebook in groups with thousands of members here, here and here; as well as on Naver Blog and conservative forum Ilbe.

Multiple copies were also distributed outside a building in Seoul's Jongno district on March 31 (archived link).

However, the image has been altered to include Lee's face, and police in Seoul launched an investigation to find those responsible for distributing the picture in the South Korean capital (archived link).

Local media reported that police were looking into alleged unlawful election campaigning, a violation of the country's Public Official Election Act (archived links here and here).

A spokesperson for the Seoul Hyehwa Police Station told AFP on April 4 the investigation was ongoing and would not comment further.

Prison cell exhibit

Reverse image searches led to similar photos of an exhibit at the Seoul Urban Life Museum (archived link).

The exhibit replicated a detention area at a correctional facility, with a mannequin dressed in a blue prison uniform sitting on a cell floor.

A photo posted on Google Maps in October 2023 shows a mannequin sitting in a similar pose near the cell's wall on the exhibit's floor (archived link). The same squat toilet and blue blanket were featured in both images.

Below is a screenshot comparison between the altered image (left) and a similar image posted on Google Maps (right):

A similar photo was also published in a Naver Blog post from January 2020 (archived link).

Past convictions

While the image purportedly showing Lee in prison garb has been altered, the text next to the image does list some of the opposition leader's convictions.

Election candidates must disclose if they were fined one million won (740 dollars) for a crime. These records are publicly available on the National Election Commission's website (archived link).

The records show Lee was fined in 2003 for assisting a news producer who impersonated a prosecutor during a phone interview with the then-Seongnam mayor (archived link).

He was fined for drink driving in 2004, and in the same year was fined for damaging public property (archived link).

Local media reported here, here and here that the Democratic Party chief was also on trial facing other charges ahead of the April 10 election (archived links here, here and here).

Lee has been a frequent target of misinformation, as debunked by AFP here, here, here and here.