An image of former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi bowing his head at the Yasukuni shrine to Japan’s war dead has been manipulated to make it appear that he was kowtowing to ex-South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun. It circulated repeatedly in misleading Facebook posts criticising ministers appointed by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for being “pro-Japanese”.
“Roh was real cool,” read part of the caption in a Facebook post on September 12.
“He stands there with his hands in his pocket, legs apart, not even directly looking at the Japanese leader.”
It continued, “It is as if he is treating [Koizumi] like a servant.”
The image shows Roh, the late president who led South Korea from 2003 to 2008, standing with his hands in his pockets on steps above Koizumi, who served as Japan’s prime minister from 2001 to 2006 (archived links here and here).
The text below the image read, “Look and learn you pro-Japanese new right morons.”
The “New Right” refers to a movement led by conservative figures that aim to paint South Korea’s authoritarian past and the legacy of Japanese colonialism in a more positive light.
Yoon appointed figures associated with the New Right to key positions including deputy national security adviser Kim Tae-hyo and minister for unification Kim Yung-ho (archived link).
The same altered image was shared alongside a similar claim on Facebook here, here and here.
Comments indicated some users appeared to believe the image was genuine.
“This is how a real leader acts, I miss Roh so much,” one user wrote.
“Yoon Suk Yeol should look at this and reflect on his behaviour,” another wrote.
However, a watermark in the image’s bottom left-hand corner — “UhmyNews – News I want to believe — suggested it was created as satire.
UhmyNews is a play on words based on the name of the South Korean news organisation OhmyNews, whose website yielded no results of such an image (archived link).
Unrelated photo
A keyword search on Google found the original photo of Roh published on Hello Archive, an online platform from Yonhap news agency, on December 21, 2006 (archived links here and here).
The photo’s caption read, “President Roh Moo-hyun, during a speech at the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council’s standing committee session at the Walker Hill Hotel on the afternoon of the 21st, put his hands in his pockets to gesture that he is not ignoring issues related to national security and unification.”
Below is a screenshot comparison between the doctored image (left) and the original photo taken by Yonhap News (right):
Roh was reported to have expressed frustration repeatedly during the speech and was panned by several prominent newspapers at the time for his negative demeanour.
The same photo was published in reports from the Dong-A Ilbo and Pressian, and made the front page of several other newspapers in 2006, including the Chosun Ilbo and JoongAng Ilbo (archived links here, here, here and here).
Shrine image
A subsequent reverse image search on Google found this photo of Koizumi bowing at the Yasukuni shrine on August 15, 2006 (archived link). Credited to South Korean news agency Newsis, it was published by local newspaper Jeju Today.
Tokyo’s Yasukuni shrine honours 2.5 million mostly Japanese killed in wars since the late 19th century, including convicted war criminals (archived link).
Since taking office in 2001, it was the first time Koizumi visited the shrine on August 15 — the anniversary of Japan’s World War II surrender (archived link).
It provoked demonstrations and official protests from South Korea and China, Japan’s Asian neighbours and former victims of its imperialism.
Below is a screenshot comparison between the doctored image flipped horizontally (left) and the photo published by Jeju Today (right):
Koizumi’s shrine visit was widely photographed at the time, including by AFP (archived link).
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