(Herald DB)
Police said Monday they have booked a man suspected of creating a fabricated video of President Yoon Suk Yeol apologizing for corruption and incompetence ahead of the April 10 general elections.
Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Cho Ji-ho said during a regular meeting with the press that the man, who is in his 50s and residing in a provincial region, has admitted to making the fake video.
Asked if he is affiliated with any political party, Cho said the man is "working for a political party," but declined to reveal which party it is.
Earlier, a video of Yoon surfaced online ahead of April's general elections, showing the president depicting his government as "incompetent and corrupt" and accountable for committing foul acts and injustices.
The video, uploaded to Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, was suspected to be a deepfake creation, but it was later found to be a fabricated compilation of Yoon's statements from when he was a presidential candidate in 2022.
Police said they have also specified nine suspects accused of distributing the fabricated video, and questioned three of them, with plans to interrogate the remaining six.
Later in the day, the Rebuilding Korea Party, led by disgraced former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, said the man in question is a part-time worker at the party's Busan branch.
It clarified the video was made in November, well before the party was officially established last month.
The party criticized the police briefing as "an attempt to interfere in the election to influence its outcome," citing the selective release of information about the man's political affiliation to the media without providing complete details.
It also said the dismissal process has begun for the individual. (Yonhap)
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