False: Video of man taking a selfie with Ri Sol Ju is manipulated, likely AI-generated
An X account with more than 228,000 followers posted a video on Aug. 3 claiming that it shows a man in military uniform approaching, and attempting to take a selfie with, Ri Sol Ju, the wife of the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The Chinese-language post said Kim “stared at the man,” while Ri “looked at Kim with pleading eyes.” It also sarcastically questioned what might have happened to the man afterward.
In the video, a man in what appears to be a North Korean military uniform takes out a mobile phone behind Ri before another man, dressed in a Western-style suit, pushes him away.
The post received over 4,500 likes, 1,000 comments, and 562 reposts. The same video also circulated on Weibo, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.
However, Annie Lab found that the footage was likely generated by AI tools using photographs from Kim’s 2018 visit to the Samchon Catfish Farm.
Footage based on 2018 visit
The clothing worn by Kim and Ri in the viral video, as well as the room layout and other objects, match photographs released to the media when Kim visited the Samchon Catfish Farm in South Hwanghae province eight years ago.
Photos of Kim’s inspection visit were distributed to the foreign press on Aug. 6, 2018. The North Korean news agency Korean Central News Agency and South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency (archived here and here) reported that Ri was among the delegates.
Kim wore a wide brim hat, a white undershirt, and gray trousers, while Ri wore a dark gray skirt suit. Their outfits are identical to those shown in the viral footage.
In our investigation, we found that no authentic video footage of the visit had been released by North Korean state media or distributed to international news organizations.
Meanwhile, we found multiple visual inconsistencies that strongly indicate that the viral clip was created from still images taken during the 2018 visit.
Visual inconsistencies
1. Ri’s Watch
Official photographs released by Yonhap News Agency show Ri wearing a black watch on her left wrist.
It is also visible at the beginning of the video, but after 20 seconds, when the man is seen trying to take a selfie, the watch disappears.
2. Object in Ri’s hand
Between 11 and 12 seconds, a silver object appears in Ri’s right hand even though her hand appears empty moments earlier.
Annie Lab found no such object in Ri’s hand in the news photos.
3. Selfie-taker’s cap
The kepi-style service cap worn by the purported selfie-taker lacks vertical red stripes on either side of the emblem in the video.
The cap worn by the corresponding man in a news photo used by the Chosun Daily clearly has those stripes.
4. Man in a business suit
At 18 seconds into the video, a man in a business suit appears and pushes the uniformed man away.
His face remains blurred throughout the video, and Annie Lab could not find a similarly dressed person in any of the official photographs from the event we have reviewed.
5. Korean text
The Korean word “계속” (continue) is seen written on a red banner behind Ri at the beginning of the video, but the text disappears 12 seconds after the uniformed man approaches her.
Man appears in news photos
The purported selfie-taker resembles a man visible in photographs published by the Chosun Daily and Yonhap (archived here and here) from the 2018 visit.
The man wearing a kepi-style service cap stands out because many other officials shown in the photos published by pro-North Korea website Explore DPRK (archived here) wore wide-topped dress caps.
Korean media reports indicate that the North Korean leader visited the Samchon Catfish Farm in 2015, 2017, and 2018 (archived here and here).
The same man appeared in news photographs from each visit, although he was not identified in the reports.
