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After a South Korean news outlet fed into far-right conspiracies by reporting that "Chinese spies" tampering with the country's elections were arrested during President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived suspension of civilian rule, social media posts shared a photo of a US navy vessel in Japan they falsely claimed had transported the purported detainees. The claims in the news report have since been refuted by South Korea's National Election Commission and US Forces Korea. The photo used as verification of the report's legitimacy was also taken in early January -- not the day Yoon rescinded his botched declaration of martial law as the posts claimed.
The false claim, presented as part of a purported open-source investigation, was shared on YouTube on January 16, 2025.
The right-wing YouTuber, Shin In-gyun, told his 1.5 million subscribers there was news circulating online that 99 Chinese spies had been arrested during the six hours of martial law, declared by President Yoon Suk Yeol on December 3, 2024.
The report, by Sky eDaily, said the purported spies were arrested at a facility affiliated with the National Election Commission (NEC) in the city of Suwon. It said they were transported by the US military to a base in Okinawa, Japan, where they confessed to election interference.
"It is claimed that the detainees were transported on this ship," Shin said, as he...
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