As South Korea battled unprecedented wildfires that ravaged massive areas of the nation’s southeast in March 2025, a video was shared in social media posts that falsely claimed it confirmed a Chinese language lady beginning one of many lethal blazes. The video has in truth circulated since October 2022 in reviews a couple of lady being arrested on suspicion of arson at an ecopark in Busan. Native information reviews from the time say she was given a suspended jail sentence.
The video, which exhibits plainclothes police arresting a girl who seems to be attempting to set fireplace to a area, was shared on X on March 23, 2025.
It was shared as multiple wildfires burned for days in southeast South Korea (archived link). Thirty folks have died within the fires, the nation’s largest and deadliest on document, as of March 30 (archived link).
“Why on earth is she doing this? The arrest of arsonist at Hwamyeong Eco Park,” learn Korean-language textual content superimposed on the video, with credit score given to Busan police.
The clip’s caption claims the lady is Chinese language, and asks: “How may she set a wildfire in broad daylight until she is a spy?”
“It’s seemingly she began the blaze to fire up social unrest as folks now say President Yoon’s case could be dismissed or rejected?” it provides, referring to a pending decision from South Korea’s Constitutional Courtroom (archived link).
Screenshot of the false X submit, captured on March 28, 2025
The video was additionally shared in related posts on YouTube, Threads and Facebook, and circulated in opposition to the background of a resurgence in anti-Chinese language misinformation following Yoon’s botched try to impose martial regulation.
Yoon has defended his short-lived suspension of civilian rule by claiming exterior forces, North Korea, and anti-state parts have been working collectively to threaten nationwide safety and sovereignty (archived link).
He additionally particularly accused unidentified Chinese language people of flying a drone to {photograph} Seoul’s spy company constructing in addition to a US plane provider docked in Busan.
As of March 31, nevertheless, there have been no official reviews of the March 2025 wildfires being intentionally set by Chinese language people.
Police in North Gyeongsang province informed AFP they launched a probe right into a 56-year-old man who’s suspected of mistakenly beginning a fireplace whereas tending to his grandparents’ gravesites on March 22 in Uiseong — the toughest hit area with 12,800 hectares of its woodland affected (archived link).
The inside ministry has additionally mentioned “sparks from a brush cutter” triggered among the fires. The flames have been fanned by excessive winds and ultra-dry circumstances, with the southeast experiencing below-average rains for months after South Korea skilled its hottest 12 months on document in 2024 (archived link).
2022 Busan arson suspect
A keyword search on YouTube led to the same footage printed in October 2022 by South Korean media outlet Howdy TV Information (archived link).
Screenshot comparability of the video within the false submit (left) and the identical footage posted on YouTube in October 2022 (proper)
In accordance with a news report by South Korean broadcaster YTN, the video exhibits plainclothes officers — who have been on a stakeout at a Busan ecopark following a number of fireplace reviews — arresting a girl who positioned a “paper towel soaked in cooking oil” in a area (archived link).
The Yonhap News Agency reported the arson suspect was given a suspended jail sentence in Could 2023, with the girl’s dementia a mitigating issue (archived link).
No native media reviews in regards to the case mentioned the girl was a Chinese language nationwide.
