South Korean politicians vying for the leadership of the ruling People Power Party were not asked whether they thought the frontrunner for the job, Han Dong-hoon, wore a hairpiece during a televised debate, contrary to claims in Facebook posts that shared a redacted screenshot of the event. The image is from a segment of the debate in which candidates were questioned about a scandal surrounding South Korea’s first lady.
“The quality of the debate on the leadership elections of the criminal party,” said a Korean-speaking Facebook post who shared the edited photo on July 10.
The picture shows PPP leadership candidates answering yes or no to the question: “Do you think candidate Han Dong-hoon’s hair is a wig?”
Three of them are depicted answering in the affirmative, while Han holds an “X” sign.
Former Minister of Justice Han is favorite to win the July 28 elections and lead the PPP after its crushing defeat loss in the April parliamentary elections (archived link).
He is a regular target of disinformation in South Korea’s notoriously hostile politics.
The manipulated image the round done on Facebook in South Korea and was Reportedly shared — and quickly deleted — by Cho Kuk, leader of the small Rebuilding Korea Party (archived link).
Some Facebook users seemed convinced that the image showed a real question asked during the debate.
“This question fully reflects the quality of the People Power Party,” said one of them.
“Why do they ask such a stupid question? No wonder our politics are like this,” wrote another.
Luxury bag scandal
The entire debate was live streamed on YouTube on July 9 by South Korean broadcaster TV Chosun (archived link).
An AFP journalist who watched the 40-minute program confirmed that Han’s hair was never discussed.
The edited screenshot corresponds to 9:22 of the debate, when the candidates were asked about a scandal surrounding South Korea’s first lady, Kim Keon Hee.
The candidates were asked, “Do you think the outcome of the general election would have been different if the First Lady had apologized?”
In 2023, hidden camera footage released showed President Yoon Suk Yeol’s wife accepting a luxury designer bag in violation of government ethics rules.
The “Dior bag scandal” caused a political headache for Yoon and his PPP and was supposed contributed to the party’s overwhelming defeat in the elections (archived link).
Han did indeed answer ‘yes’ to that question and it appears his sign has been modified, with the ‘O’ replaced with an ‘X’.
A close-up of the edited image shows clear signs of manipulation, such as discoloration and straight edges around the round plate.
