AI-generated video targets South Korean presidential frontrunner ahead of election

With weeks left until South Korea's presidential election on June 3, social media users have repeatedly shared an AI-generated video alongside claims it shows poll frontrunner Lee Jae-myung "faking" his 2023 hunger strike in protest of the then-administration's policies. The clip -- which was generated using a genuine photo of Lee -- features inconsistencies typical of AI generation, such as disappearing objects and visual elements that change throughout.

The video was shared on Facebook on April 3, with the hashtags "pretending to work", "pretending to fast" and "pretending to be good".

It appears to show Lee grinning with relief before sitting up from a bed and stretching his arms.

Text embedded above the video reads, "Hey, are the cameras gone? Should we go eat fried chicken now?"

Lee is the clear frontrunner in pre-election polls for the June 3 presidential election, which was triggered by former president Yoon Suk Yeol's removal over an ill-fated attempt to suspend civilian rule in December 2024 (archived link).

The former opposition leader was hospitalised in September 2023 after holding a weeks-long hunger strike to protest Yoon's policies (archived link). Lee was also facing an arrest warrant at the time over corruption allegations, which his party argued was an attempt by the Yoon government to persecute its political opponents.

Critics at the time dismissed Lee's hunger strike as a "political performance", a narrative which fuelled false claims among conservative users on social media (archived link).

The video was shared in multiple Facebook groups supporting conservative politicians.

"It seems like lying and faking are embedded into his soul," reads a comment on one of the posts. 

Another said: "He should get an award for acting."

The clip, however, is AI-generated.

A reverse image search on Google using the first frame of the circulating clip found a matching photo published by South Korea's Yonhap news agency on September 22, 2023 (archived link).

The photo is credited to Lee's Democratic Party and the caption states it shows the politician meeting party lawmakers and a by-election candidate while lying in a hospital bed in a Seoul medical facility.

The same photo was published in full and cropped across multiple local media reports at the time (archived here, here and here).

The circulating video contains multiple inconsistencies indicating the still photo was animated using AI software.

Photo-to-video AI tools typically start with a still image and apply movement based on instructions from a text prompt, which can explain why the first frame of the clip matches the genuine photo of Lee (archived link).

Inconsistencies are revealed in the following frames when Lee begins to sit up, with the people at his bedside in the original photo replaced with two men.

Other visual discrepancies include a different wall panel above the bed, altered safety rail edges, and the presence of an IV stand that does not appear in the original.

The pattern on the floor, a cane leaning against the wall and a door seen on the left side of the photo are all missing from the AI-generated video. Additionally, Lee's hair changes colour as the video progresses, while his right arm appears skinny and wrinkly in one frame before reverting back to normal.

Other footage and photos of Lee receiving visitors from the same hospital room are consistent with the original photo published by Yonhap (archived here, here and here).

Despite the meteoric progress in Generative AI, errors still show up in AI-generated content. These defects are the best way to recognise a fabricated image. AFP lists other tips to identify AI-generated content here.

AFP has debunked other false claims regarding South Korea's upcoming election.