VERIFYING photos claiming to show South Korea protests against martial law

On the night of Dec. 3, 2024, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in the country. Soldiers entered Seoul, South Korea’s capital city, and attempted to prevent the country’s legislature from meeting while citizens took to the streets in protest.

Since then, the National Assembly, South Korea’s legislature, voted 190-0 to lift the country’s martial law declaration. At 4:30 a.m. local time on Dec. 4, Yoon lifted the declaration.

We’re VERIFYING photos that have gone viral in the hours since Yoon first declared martial law.

THE QUESTION

Was this photo of a convoy of military vehicles on a South Korea city street taken after President Yoon declared martial law?

THE SOURCES

• KFN, a YouTube channel run by the South Korean military
• Seoul Shinmun, an online news publication in South Korea

THE ANSWER

No, the photo of a convoy of military vehicles in Seoul, South Korea’s capital city, was not taken during the country’s period of martial law.

VERIFY used RevEye, a reverse image search tool, to trace the image back to a Jan. 27, 2024, Korean news article. That article, which sourced the image to the Defense Public Relations Agency, said the armored vehicles were participating in a training exercise in downtown Seoul.

The South Korean military posted a video about the convoy and training exercise to its YouTube channel, KFN, on Jan. 25, 2024. That video showed multiple angles of the convoy as it moved through Seoul.

Rumors that tanks were deployed to Seoul after the martial law declaration have not been confirmed. VERIFY has not found any local press photos of tanks in the city, and the veracity of social media photos of tanks in the city could not be confirmed.

THE QUESTION

Is this a real photo of people protesting South Korea’s martial law?

THE SOURCES

• European Pressphoto Agency, a photo service founded by seven European news agencies
• RevEye, a reverse image source tool

THE ANSWER

No, this is not a photo of people protesting President Yoon’s declaration of martial law on the night of Dec. 3. It is a photo from an earlier protest against Yoon, calling for his resignation amid allegations of corruption.

VERIFY once again checked for the source of the image using RevEye. Through that search, VERIFY found an Italian news article published Nov. 30, 2024, that credited the image to Jeon Heon Kyun of the EPA.

“EPA” is the acronym of the European Pressphoto Agency, which published the photo that same day.

THE QUESTION

Is this a real photo of staff at the National Assembly Building using fire extinguishers to prevent soldiers from advancing?

THE SOURCES

• Reuters
• SBS News, a Korean news broadcaster

THE ANSWER

Yes, this is a real photo of staff at the National Assembly Building using fire extinguishers to prevent soldiers from advancing during martial law on the night of Dec. 3, 2024. 

The photo was published by Reuters.

The incident was captured on video by Korean news broadcaster SBS News. It can be seen 11:56 minutes into this video.

THE QUESTION

Is this a real photo of protesters pushing a Korean lawmaker over the gate to parliament while the military was blocking it?

THE SOURCES

• Gukjenews News Agency, a Korean news publication
• Livestream of Lee Jae Myung, leader of South Korea’s opposition party

THE ANSWER

Yes, this is a real photo of protesters pushing a Korean lawmaker over the gate of the National Assembly Building, which is where Korea’s legislative body gathers. At the time, when martial law was in effect, the military was attempting to prevent entry into the building.

The image is watermarked with the logo of the Gukjenews news agency. That photo can be found on the news agency’s website. Gukjenews published a number of photos from the protest outside of South Korea’s National Assembly Building in Seoul.

This lawmaker was not the only one who had to climb over the gate to enter the National Assembly Building.

Lee Jae Myung, a member of the National Assembly and the leader of the country’s opposition party, climbed over the fence to enter the National Assembly Building while recording a livestream posted to his YouTube channel.