Following Yoon Suk Yeol’s removal as South Korea’s president, an image of a celebratory poster written in Chinese surfaced in posts that claim it was evidence of a conspiracy by the opposition party and China to unseat him. But the material is from local anti-Yoon rallyists, who put up multilingual posters in Seoul explaining protests against the former president to foreigners.<\/h3>\n
“As expected, the Democratic Party and the Chinese are in cahoots,” reads an April 7 post<\/a> on a South Korean online forum Nate Pann.<\/p>\n “It gives me the chills,” the post goes on to say. “The Chinese say they protected our country’s freedom. This is insane.”<\/p>\n It\u00a0features an image showing a simplified Chinese-language poster alongside a partial Korean translation that reads: “The Constitutional Court has upheld Mr. Yoon’s impeachment. We won!”<\/p>\n “In 123 days since December 3, we have finally driven the forces that dreamed of dictatorship out of the Republic of Korea!” the poster continues.<\/p>\n “This is not just a victory for South Korea’s democracy and civil society, but also a lighthouse of hope for all nations fighting for democratisation.”<\/p>\n Screenshot of the Nate Pann post taken April 10, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Other posts on X<\/a>, Threads<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a> and a news report from South Korean news outlet\u00a0Asia Today<\/a> shared similar images.<\/p>\n They surfaced a few days after the Constitutional Court unanimously\u00a0ruled<\/a> to oust impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol over his disastrous martial law declaration (archived link<\/a>).<\/p>\n They also circulated against the background of a resurgence in anti-Chinese misinformation.<\/p>\n The former leader has defended<\/a> his shock move\u00a0claiming external forces, North Korea, and anti-state elements were working together to threaten national security and sovereignty (archived link<\/a>).<\/p>\n He specifically accused<\/a> unidentified Chinese individuals of flying a drone to photograph Seoul’s spy agency building and a US aircraft carrier docked in Busan.<\/p>\n But an AFP analysis found the Chinese-language poster was in fact created by a local group.<\/p>\n AFP found the poster near Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Gate<\/a>, located at 12 Hyoja-ro, Jongno-gu<\/a>, on April 9 (archived\u00a0here<\/a> and\u00a0here<\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n The gate is the main entrance to a royal palace from the Joseon Dynasty, Korea’s last kingdom, and is popular among foreign tourists. The area served as a key site for\u00a0mass anti-Yoon protests<\/a> in the lead-up to his ouster.<\/span><\/p>\n AFP confirmed the location by comparing the buildings seen behind the poster to those visible in the background of the photo shared in false posts.<\/p>\nInformation for tourists<\/h3>\n