Election watchdog busts political deepfakes ahead of South Korea’s April general election

A deepfake video of President Yoon Suk-yeol endorsing a candidate for the chief of a county in South Gyeongsang province came under scrutiny in 2022. - PHOTO: REUTERS

SEOUL (The Korea Herald/ANN): The South Korean constitutional agency overseeing election administration said on Feb 19 that it formed a task force aimed at fighting artificial intelligence-generated deceitful content related to the general election in April.

The National Election Commission said in a release that it busted a total of 129 deepfakes that were deemed to violate the laws on elections of public officials between Jan 29 and Feb 16.