Bogus child pornography claims, fabricated support for communism and fake posts showing Elon Musk calling for his removal -- a deluge of disinformation is targeting a top judge in suspended South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment trial.

South Korea's Constitutional Court has for weeks deliberated on whether to uphold a parliamentary vote to remove Yoon from office over his failed December bid to impose martial law in the country.

Leading the often-tense proceedings has been Moon Hyung-bae, the court's soft-spoken, liberal-leaning interim head, appointed to the bench in 2019 by then-president Moon Jae-in (archived link).

With legal experts widely expecting the court to remove Yoon from office next month, his conservative party and allies have launched a deluge of false and defamatory claims against judge Moon.

"The purpose of such attacks is very clear -- they are attempts to undercut the legitimacy of the impeachment decision," said Lee Jong-soo, a law professor at Seoul's Yonsei University, who said the impeachment was an "inevitability" (archived link).

Among the most damaging disinformation were claims, debunked by AFP, of Moon's involvement in sharing child pornography online.

Internet users shared what appeared to be a comment left by Moon on a post containing a sexually graphic image depicting a minor.

Yoon's ruling People Power Party (PPP) amplified the false claim, demanding the judge's resignation and condemning him for "consuming" pornography (archived...

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