South Korea's far-right amplified well-worn anti-China narratives online after protests erupted in Seoul over ballot paper shortages during local elections in early June 2026. Videos of police officers deployed during the demonstrations spread widely in posts claiming they were part of a Chinese infiltration scheme, but officials told AFP they were all South Korean nationals -- as required by law. One of the officers and his partner have filed criminal complaints against some social media users for defamation.
"Breaking news from a patriot about a police officer believed to be Chinese," reads Korean-language text over a video shared June 6 on Instagram.
"So many Chinese came due to a no-visa entry rule -- do you think there won't be public security officers or gangsters among them?"
The clip, which accumulated thousands of interactions, shows people following a man in a police uniform in a parking lot as they shout "fake police".
Other videos of the officer, including one in which he is surrounded by a mob of young women and men holding signs saying "re-election", spread widely online in Korean and Chinese.
Some comments indicate users believed the claim, saying the police officer should be "caught and killed" or "stabbed to death".
A separate clip shared on South Korean and Taiwanese social media shows another man in a police uniform talking into a walkie-talkie on the street. A woman behind the camera shouts: "Are you really a South Korean police officer? What's wrong...
South Korea's far-right amplified well-worn anti-China narratives online after protests erupted in Seoul over ballot paper shortages during local elections in early June 2026. Videos of police off...