How anti-China disinformation shaped South Korea's year of crisis

Yoon Suk Yeol's botched attempt to impose martial law last year plunged South Korea into its worst political crisis in decades, providing fertile ground for disinformation to grow.

A common refrain, posted on right-wing forums, amplified by YouTubers and echoed by lawmakers: China was to blame.

Yoon supporters claimed Beijing had infiltrated protests, funded his impeachment campaign and manipulated online opinion ahead of the June snap election that brought opposition leader Lee Jae Myung to power.

Yoon himself fuelled the suspicion last December during televised remarks defending his failed decree, warning that "forces linked to North Korea and China are threatening our democracy from within".

But an AFP Fact Check rev

See Full Page