As President Yoon Suk Yeol awaits a Constitutional Court ruling following his parliamentary impeachment and criminal investigations into his insurrection charges, a troubling trend is surfacing.
In recent weeks, the South Korean public has been flooded with unverified, half-baked stories originating mainly from opposition parties. The media’s failure to conduct rudimentary fact-checking has only amplified the rumors, misinformation and speculation.
Speaking at a National Assembly hearing on December 13, Kim Ou-joon, a prominent left-wing commentator, testified that he had received intelligence on an “assassination squad” that was allegedly mobilized during Yoon’s martial law decree imposed then revoked six hours later earlier that month.
This tip, which Kim himself acknowledged was not fully verified, alleged that Yoon’s government had planned to assassinate several individuals, including former ruling party leader Han Dong-hoon, and then frame North Korea for the crime.
Kim went on to make other uncorroborated claims, including the potential use of biochemical weapons and killing US soldiers to elicit an American airstrike against North Korea during the short-lived decree. Kim’s source for the incendiary claims? “A friendly nation with an embassy in South Korea.”
This vague sourcing fueled hot speculation, leading many to believe that the tip originated from American intelligence. Days later, however, US State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller dismissed the theory.
Ironically, in South Korea, it was the opposition Democratic Party lawmaker who openly refuted Kim’s testimony as “considerably fictional”– although the committee that heard Kim’s testimony later published an interim report to “not rule out entirely” the claim.
A similar incident occurred on December 11 when Kim Joon-hyung of another opposition party testified in parliament that US Ambassador Philip Goldberg, unable to reach South Korean diplomats following the declaration of martial law, reported back to Washington, allegedly saying, “I cannot deal with Yoon government people.” In a rare move, the US Embassy in Seoul swiftly denied the claim.
Media coverage of these inflammatory and unproven accusations have added fuel to the fire. Mainstream outlets on both sides of the political spectrum neglected to cross-check the stories.
Even ChoJoongDong—an abbreviation for Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo and DongA Ilbo, the nation’s top three conservative media outlets—fell short in their fact-checking. Traditionally tasked with counterbalancing liberal media narratives, they have faltered in the suddenly heated political environment fueled by public protests.
Among the ChoJoongDong trio, for instance, only Chosun Ilbo wrote editorials raising serious doubts about Kim Ou-joon’s statements but still stopped short of digging deeper.
Meanwhile, the media’s fixation on circumstantial reports stemming from Yoon’s ongoing criminal probes has likewise fueled anxieties. Testimonies from arrested high-ranking military and government officials linked to Yoon’s martial law invocation are dominating headlines.
But none so far have been substantiated beyond the testimonies themselves collected by the police and prosecution. Many outlets have omitted crucial details, such as who made specific statements and under what circumstances, turning the evidence into a patchwork of “he said, she said” allegations.
For its part, the ruling People Power Party has condemned investigators for selectively feeding ongoing criminal investigations to the media and vowed legal action against outlets publishing unverified claims. The presidential office and Yoon’s legal team have denied all accusations.
Then there are the wild goose chases after mirage-like evidence. For instance, a secure phone allegedly used by the president as a line of communication during the decree—what media have called smoking-gun evidence—has yet to be found.
Lately, media attention has veered to another purported smoking gun—a notebook belonging to former defense intelligence commander Noh Sang-won. Noh, reportedly one of the key architects of Yoon’s December 3 martial law decree, had listed names of politicians, journalists, judges and religious figures as “subjects for roundup” and included phrases such as “shoot to kill” and “blockade National Assembly.”
The notebook allegedly also outlines a plan to “incite North Korean aggression near the NLL,” the Northern Limit Line, a volatile maritime boundary between the two Koreas. Noh, the former intelligence commander-turned-shaman, has since been apprehended and handed over to prosecutors.
Despite the expectation that those leading the investigation will act impartially, the sudden appearance of Noh and his notebook casts doubt–particularly given the timing, which seems almost too convenient.
After all, a memo seemingly written by a former military officer could suddenly lend credibility to Kim Ou-joon’s assassination squad theory, reinforcing claims that Yoon played a role in provoking North Korean aggression and attempting to neutralize parliament.
MBC and JTBC, two of South Korea’s leading broadcasters, are now actively promoting these narratives.
Moreover, if the indictment and impeachment against Yoon for inciting an insurrection fails, as is entirely possible, then Plan B may involve pursuing charges for inciting foreign aggression. It’s not unheard of for authorities to “find” evidence that fits a predetermined outcome.
Noh’s sudden emergence also neatly aligns with another dubious narrative. Hankyoreh Newspaper, for example, has suggested that Yoon’s shamanistic beliefs may have influenced his decision to declare martial law.
Similarly, Ohmynews published a column arguing that what’s written in Noh’s notebook is not entirely implausible given a “president who indulges in unfounded conspiracy theories and shamanistic beliefs.
Driving the current media frenzy is a fierce jurisdictional battle between the joint investigative headquarters and the prosecution, each striving for control over the high-profile case surrounding the sitting president, who has been suspended from his presidential duties while his Constitutional Court case is pending.
From the outset, both sides have scrambled to interrogate prominent figures and uncover evidence tying Yoon to insurrection. It’s also hard to ignore that former prosecutor general Yoon made his name by taking down high-profile individuals like Cho Kuk and Park Geun-hye.
Gravitating toward juicy clickbait stories and indulging in speculation is hardly surprising for the media and galvanized opposition parties. Nor is sensationalism unique to South Korea.
However, the consequences of misleading or poorly sourced stories are particularly damaging in times of national crisis, as witnessed by the impeachment proceedings of former President Park Geun-hye.
During that heated period, vicious gossip about Park and her allies and personal insults circulated widely, even through established media. Unsurprisingly, many of the claims originated from opposition parties.
In particularly notorious instances, false rumors claimed that Park was undergoing plastic surgery and performing religious rituals after the sinking of the Sewol Ferry in 2014 instead of actively engaging in rescue efforts.
As if lifted from the same playbook, lawmaker Jang Kyung Tae of the opposition Democratic Party recently accused the first lady of visiting a plastic surgeon just hours before Yoon’s martial law decree.
Hasty reporting may have also influenced Park’s court ruling. In October 2016, JTBC aired an exclusive segment presenting a smoking gun evidence of Park’s civilian friend meddling in state affairs. That and JTBC’s subsequent expose became key evidence for Park’s ouster from office. In recent years, the accuracy of the broadcaster’s reports has come under heavy scrutiny.
As the Constitutional Court weighs Yoon’s case, the opposition’s reckless actions risk further eroding public trust in institutions that is already stretched thin. At the same time, the media’s penchant for speculative reporting, coupled with a lack of rigorous fact-checking, only fuels the fire. Such a climate will increasingly undermine the “innocent until proven guilty” principle.
To be sure, press freedom and governmental inquiries must be protected and encouraged, especially in times of crisis. But without proper accountability, they risk becoming a double-edged sword—one that can uphold truth or unleash unwarranted protest and chaos.
Kenji Yoshida is a Seoul-based correspondent for JAPAN Forward. Jason Morgan is a historian and an associate professor at Reitaku University
