Skip to content
Submit incident
AII-1001-35439
AllegedThe record is a lawsuit, complaint or accusation that has not been decided.Supporting sources are pending verification.

AI-generated fake audio used in South Korean political scandal

South Korean Democratic Party members reportedly distributed AI-generated fake audio of Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae discussing cases with former Prime Minister Han Deok-soo, according to the opposition People Power Party. The audio was publicly labeled as AI-generated when first disclosed in May, but became politically contentious as the Democratic Party escalated calls for the Justice's resignation.

10 May 2025 Β· Democratic Party of Korea Β· Misinformation and synthetic media
10 May 2025
AII-1001-35439
Quick facts
Category
Misinformation and synthetic media
Country
South Korea
Date
10 May 2025
Drafted by
Raidu Incident Detection

What happened

Democratic Party politicians reportedly used AI-generated fake audio to allege that Supreme Court Chief Justice Jo Hee-dae met with former Prime Minister Han Deok-soo to discuss handling cases involving President Lee Jae-myung.

The audio was first disclosed by the YouTube channel 'Open Empathy TV' on May 10 as a 'tip', but the broadcast noted that the audio was AI-generated and not an actual recording of any specific person.

Reported impact

The People Power Party accused Democratic Party members Jung Chung-rae, Seo Young-gyo, Boo Seung-chan, and Kim Eo-jun of spreading false information using the AI-generated audio, and called for punitive damages to be applied against them.

Classification

Category
Misinformation and synthetic media
Industry
Government, security and defence
Country
South Korea
Harm status
Actual harm
Intent
Unknown
Timing
Unknown
Harm types
Reputational
Harmed
Government
Failure modes
Voice clone
Consequences
None recorded
AI systems
Unknown voice synthesis system

Sources and evidence

Sources not yet published

This record was researched and written by the Index from original reporting. Its sources are still being verified by an editor, and they are listed here once that check is complete. Until then the record carries no reviewer.

How sources are verifiedSuggest a source for this incident