Fact-check: Has Martial Law Been Declared in South Korea with Armoured Vehicles Deployed in Seoul? Read the reality

South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday said he would lift a surprise martial law declaration hours after it was imposed following a standoff with lawmakers as the parliament voted to reject his controversial decision to ban political activity. Amid this, On social media, an image of armoured vehicles has gone viral. While sharing the image users claim that “MARTIAL LAW DECLARED IN SOUTH KOREA. President Yoon Suk Yeol has announced Emergency Martial Law, with convoys of tanks and helicopters spotted across the capital, Seoul. What are your thoughts on this development?”

A user named XenaJ.Gill posted this image on X and wrote: “What’s happening in Korea is straight out of a movie”

Furthermore, other users also shared this image and made similar claims. The preview link can be seen here .

Fact-check

During the investigation, DFRAC found that the claim was false. We found several media reports carrying similar images. According to ‘Zum news’ uploaded on January 27, 2024 “The 1st Guard Brigade of the Capital Defense Command of the Army conducted a mobile training exercise using the K808 wheeled armored vehicle (Baekho) in the downtown area of Seoul on the morning of the 25th.

Furthermore, we also found a report from ‘seoul.co’ uploaded on January 27, 2024 stated “The Capital Defense Command’s 1st Security Brigade conducted a maneuver training exercise with K808 wheeled armored vehicles (known as “Baekho”) in central Seoul at dawn on January 25, 2024. The footage was provided by the Defense Media Agency.”

Conclusion

It is evident from the DFRAC’s fact check that the image of armoured vehicles is from January 2024 is linked to a military training exercise, not a recent martial law declaration in South Korea. Therefore, the claim circulating on social media is misleading