Reporter behind 'Chinese spy' articles cited far-right 'Captain America' cosplayer as source, recording suggests

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Reporter behind 'Chinese spy' articles cited far-right 'Captain America' cosplayer as source, recording suggests

Published: 18 Feb. 2025, 15:14 Updated: 18 Feb. 2025, 15:16

KIM MIN-YOUNG
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

A man wearing Captain America's iconic costume shows up at the National Human Rights Commission of Korea's building in Jung District, central Seoul, on Feb. 10. [YONHAP]

An apparent phone call recording suggests that a reporter who claimed Chinese spies developed an automation program to manipulate public opinion in South Korea was citing Captain America — or at least a right-wing cosplayer best known for dressing as the Marvel superhero — as a source.

Far-right Korean news outlet Skye Daily reported on Jan. 20 that “Chinese spies were found to have developed an automation program incorporating artificial intelligence, called ‘Project Mok-in,’ which was used to manipulate public opinion in South Korea," citing “multiple domestic intelligence sources.”

However, one of those "multiple domestic intelligence sources" turned out to be a Captain America cosplayer who tried to break into the Chinese Embassy in Jung District, central Seoul, on Friday. This came to light when the cosplayer released a recording of a phone call with the reporter on social media on Sunday.

The cosplayer, surnamed Ahn, is currently under investigation without detention on charges of attempted trespassing. He is also suspected of impersonating a U.S. military officer and a United Nations employee at various protest sites by presenting a fake passport.

Ahn was wearing Captain America's iconic costume at the time of the attempted embassy break-in, reportedly made after he threatened a "terror attack" on the compound. Earlier that week, Ahn caused a disturbance at the state human rights watchdog's headquarters in Seoul, also clad as Captain America.

Ahn clad in Captain America's iconic costume blocks an elevator in the National Human Rights Commission of Korea's building in Jung District, central Seoul, on Feb. 10. [NEWS1]

Ahn was a former member of the now defunct far-right Korean Patriots' Party and ran for a seat in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, in 2018.

“You can just say that they created a 'macro' program through a project known as Mok-in,” Ahn said in the recording of a phone call with the date undisclosed. “Mok-in” means people made of wood in Korean and Chinese.

A macro program, or automation program, is software that repeatedly enters a specific command into a computer. The article in question alleges such a program was used to repeatedly and automatically create comments online.

Ahn suggested that Mok-in should not be a macro project but more like AI to give it a human touch. “Wouldn't it be smoother to frame it that way?" he said.

In another phone call recording from Feb. 16, “Captain America” questioned the reporter about Skye Daily’s reporting, to which the reporter responded, “Given the situation with our comment section, there was no other choice.”

“Skye Daily is treating me unfairly,” the cosplayer told the reporter. “You should write exactly what I tell you to.”

Cover of ″Stop The Steal″ [SCREEN CAPTURE]

When contacted by the JoongAng Ilbo, an affiliate of Korea JoongAng Daily, the reporter said that Ahn was “one of several sources” but confirmed he had communicated with him.

The reporter added that “current and former intelligence officials from both domestic and international agencies, as well as sources in the United States, including the White House, were included in the process of selecting and verifying the intelligence.”

The reporter wrote an earlier article that claimed U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) captured 99 Chinese spies working for the National Election Commission (NEC) during the brief period of martial law on Dec. 3.

The article, published on Jan. 16, said that “martial law troops, along with the U.S. military forces, raided the Korean Civic Education Institute for Democracy and secured 99 Chinese spies and transported them to a U.S. military base in Okinawa.”

The Korean Civic Education Institute for Democracy is an organization under the NEC where election workers are trained.

“The depiction of U.S. Forces and the allegations in the mentioned ROK media article are entirely false,” said USFK on Jan. 20 in a statement on social media platform X. “We urge responsible reporting and fact-checking to prevent the spread of misinformation that could harm public trust.”

Footage from the surveillance cameras at the National Election Commission's headquarters shows soldiers taking photos of the commission's data servers on Dec. 3. [NATIONAL ASSEMBLY]

When an X account asked the next day whether USFK was referencing reports by JTBC, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily, and other media outlets that refuted Skye Daily’s claims, USFK clarified their position by mentioning the far-right outlet by name.

“All information is false,” said the X post referring to the Skye Daily report. “The Department of Defense and USFK have both stated the claim is false.”

On Jan. 20, the NEC filed a complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency against Skye Daily and the reporter who wrote the article, accusing them of obstruction of official duties by deception and defamation in connection with their reports on the arrest and extradition of Chinese spies and alleged Chinese AI-driven manipulation of public opinion.

Police imposed an overseas travel ban on the reporter on Jan. 23 and questioned the individual as a suspect on Feb. 4, according to police sources on Monday.

“I reported the facts based on a credible domestic source,” the reporter told the police, claiming to have “cross-verified the information,” according to media accounts.

President Yoon Suk Yeol’s legal team later cited Skye Daily's report of election fraud during impeachment proceedings at the Constitutional Court to justify the martial law declaration.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG, LEE CHAN-KYU [[email protected]]