"Han River, Nobel Prize Money Donated Entirely to Dokdo"... Fake News Surges Again

Suffering from 'Fake News' Spreading on SNS
Victims Include Noso-Young, An Se-Young
"Please Resolve Fake News and Impersonation Ads Targeting Celebrities"

Novelist Han Kang. [Source=Yonhap News]

Fake news surrounding novelist Han Kang, the first Asian woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, is rampant.

On the 14th, on the social networking service (SNS) Facebook, fake news impersonating Han Kang rapidly spread after the announcement of her Nobel Prize win on the 10th. One representative example is the claim that "Han Kang will donate the entire Nobel Prize money to peace efforts for Dokdo." Since Han Kang has never mentioned any plans regarding the use of the Nobel Prize money, this is fake news. Clicking the link posted with this claim leads to sites filled with various fake news. Other posts include fake news such as "Hwang Hee-chan is getting married" and "Shin Yu-bin will donate all her medal prize money to the military." However, people who believe these as facts are reacting by liking or commenting on the posts.

Earlier last month, fake news also spread claiming that Noh So-young, director of the Art Center Nabi, would donate 5 billion won to An Se-young, the 2024 Paris Olympic badminton gold medalist. At that time, Facebook posts with titles like "Noh So-young, who is going through a divorce lawsuit, donates 5 billion won in cash for An Se-young, everyone applauded" and "With capital of 1.3808 trillion won... Noh So-young, who has five personal medical staff, founded a personal team for An Se-young who left the association, receiving everyone's applause" circulated widely. Some netizens who saw these posts commented, "Supporting Director Noh," and "Wishing for Director Noh's election as head of the Badminton Association," sharing the posts. In response, An Se-young’s side denied the claims, stating, "We have not been contacted," and "We saw the news but do not know why such news appeared."

Meanwhile, fake news and impersonation advertisements about celebrities are rapidly spreading on SNS, emerging as another social issue. In March, comedian Song Eun-i, writer Kim Mi-kyung, and others held a press conference to raise awareness about the seriousness of impersonation crimes and urged platforms and the government to take action. The statement released at the time included the names of 137 people, including comedian Yoo Jae-suk, Hwang Hyun-hee, actress Kim Go-eun, and former Hanwha Investment & Securities CEO Joo Jin-hyung, who raised their voices together.