South Korea's top leader thinks martial law declaration is deep fake

South Korea's top opposition leader told CNN this week that when he saw President Yun Seok-yeol's late-night speech declaring martial law, his first thought was that it was a deep fake.

“That night, after I got off work, my wife and I were lying on the bed at home…and my wife suddenly showed me a YouTube video and said, 'The president is declaring martial law,'” leader Lee Jae-myung A representative of South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party (DP) told CNN.

“I responded, 'That's a deepfake. It must be a deepfake. It can't be real,'” he said.

“But when I watched the video, the president did declare martial law — but I thought to myself, 'This is fabricated, this is fake.'”

Yoon's sudden declaration of martial law late Tuesday night shocked the world, causing South Korea's currency, won and stock market to plummet on Wednesday. Korean congressman now push for presidential impeachmentExperts say the country could face prolonged political turmoil in the coming months.

But Lee's reaction to the news demonstrated not only the shock of the news, but also the increasing pervasiveness of artificial intelligence (AI) and deepfakes in daily life. Make it harder for people to discern reality from AI-generated content.

Read the full report: CNN

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Visakha Saxena

Vishakha Saxena is Asia Finance's multimedia and social media editor. She has worked as a digital journalist since 2013 and is an experienced writer and multimedia producer. As a trader and investor, she is interested in the new economy, emerging markets, and the intersection of finance and society. You can write to her: [email protected]