Ahead of Local Elections, Government Draws Sword Against 'Fake News'... Prime Minister Kim Vows to "Eradicate It at the Root"

Ministerial Meeting on Countering Fake News

With less than 100 days left until the 9th nationwide local elections on June 3, Prime Minister Kim Minseok stated on the 26th, "Regardless of status or position, we will never tolerate individuals or groups that create politically motivated false slander and fake news."

Prime Minister Kim Minseok speaks at the ministers' meeting on countering fake news, including AI misuse, held at the Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul on Feb. 26, 2026. Yonhap News

Presiding over a "Ministerial Meeting on Countering Fake News" at the Government Complex-Seoul on the morning of the same day, Prime Minister Kim said, "Fake news and smear campaigns that distort government policies ahead of various elections and primaries, falsely slander government officials, and defame specific candidates or political parties are enemies of democracy." He stressed, "Any act that deliberately creates and distributes fake news in any form or for any purpose, thereby disrupting political and electoral order, must be dealt with strictly in accordance with the law and principles."

The Broadcasting, Media and Communications Commission will serve as the control tower for countering fake news. The meeting was attended by Vice Prime Minister for Science and Technology and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Gyeonghun, Minister of Justice Jeong Seongho, Minister of the Interior and Safety Yoon Hojoong, Broadcasting, Media and Communications Commission Chair Kim Jongcheol, Acting Prosecutor General Koo Jahyeon, and Acting Commissioner General of the Korean National Police Agency Yoo Jaeseong.

Prime Minister Kim called on investigative authorities such as the prosecution and the police to "eradicate fake news through thorough investigations." In this regard, Acting Prosecutor General Koo stated in a "Joint Statement by the Prosecution and Police on Countering Fake News, Including the Misuse of Artificial Intelligence (AI)" issued on the same day, "The prosecution will mobilize all possible means to respond strictly to election offenders who disseminate fake news." He added, "We are concerned that election crimes exploiting 'fake news' will surge as election day draws nearer." The prosecution plans to use investigative techniques such as scientific investigation to uncover election offenses and to track crimes that use overseas servers through international judicial cooperation.

Acting Commissioner General Yoo also said on the same day, "In particular, for election crimes using deepfakes, we will track distribution channels and strictly punish the original disseminators and producers," and urged, "Please refrain from sharing information of unclear origin and report suspicious content to the relevant authorities."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.