Quick Take
A video from 2019 showing Russian President Vladimir Putin meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been circulating recently with the false claim that it shows Putin meeting with the South Korean president.
Full Story
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the first time on April 25, 2019.
Putin hosted Kim in Vladivostok, Russia, and the pair discussed North Korea’s nuclear weapons and relations with the U.S.
Now, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a video of that meeting has been circulating with the false claim that it shows Putin meeting with the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, and the suggestion that it was taken recently.
For example, a version of the video that has been viewed 2 million times since it was posted on Facebook on March 6 gives no indication that it’s from 2019 and includes this description of the clip: “Russian president Vladimir Putin meets with South Korean President.”
While some of the more than 6,000 commenters on the post recognized that it showed the North Korean leader and expressed doubt about the veracity of the clip, many others expressed concern about the implication of a meeting between Russia and South Korea on the conflict in Ukraine.
But, as we said, the clip is from 2019 and shows a meeting between Putin and Kim.
The video was taken from a French public radio station that broadcasts in Arabic, called Monte Carlo Doualiya. The station posted the roughly two-minute clip on its YouTube channel on April 25, 2019, with this description (according to Google translate): “The moment President Putin receives his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong in Vladivostok.”
So, the video that’s currently circulating on social media is almost three years old and shows the leader of North Korea, not South Korea.
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here. Facebook has no control over our editorial content.
Sources
Reevell, Patrick. “Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin meet for 1st time, discuss nuclear stalemate in historic summit.” ABC News. 25 Apr 2019.
Congressional Research Service. “Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: Overview of U.S. and International Sanctions and Other Responses.” Updated 4 Mar 2022.
Monte Carlo Doualiya. “لحظة استقبال الرئيس بوتين لنظيره الكوري الشمالي كيم جونغ في فلاديفوستوك.” YouTube. 25 Apr 2019.