'Politicians on the Merit List'? May 18 Disinformation Resurfaces

People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jin-sook recently hosted a forum at the National Assembly titled "Revisiting the May 18 Democratization Movement." During the discussion, remarks were made describing the May 18 Democratization Movement as a "disturbance" or "riot."

Lawmaker Lee explained the intent behind the event, stating, "May 18 must not become the exclusive property of any specific political faction. Even if unconventional arguments or uncomfortable questions arise, the path to academic exploration must remain open."


However, immediately following the forum, a so-called "May 18 Merit Recipient List" containing names of prominent politicians began circulating on social media once again. The list includes names such as the late former President Kim Dae-jung, former President Moon Jae-in, and lawmaker Park Ji-won. The post garnered nearly 500,000 views.


This list, however, is not appearing for the first time. When the SBS Fact-Check Team conducted a Google reverse image search, it was confirmed that similar lists have been circulating since at least February 2019.

It is true that some politicians on the list have been officially recognized as May 18 persons of merit. The late former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan is one such case. Former Prime Minister Lee was detained and imprisoned by the new military junta at the time, and he personally mentioned his status as a person of merit on multiple occasions. Former Democratic Party leader Han Hwa-gap also disclosed his status as a May 18 person of merit when running for parliament in 2008.

However, other politicians have consistently maintained that they are not May 18 merit recipients. Numerous media fact-checks over the years regarding this list have drawn the exact same conclusion.

To verify further, the SBS Fact-Check Team contacted the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. The ministry stated, "Please understand that we cannot disclose specific names due to court rulings upholding the non-disclosure of the merit recipients list," but added, "However, a significant number of people on the list currently circulating are not May 18 persons of merit." This aligns with findings from past media fact-checking investigations.

In December 2018, the Seoul Administrative Court ruled that non-disclosure of the May 18 merit recipient list is justified, noting that withholding such information is not an exceptional measure. This ruling was later finalized by the Supreme Court.
 
This is not all. Various false claims regarding May 18 continue to spread across social media. The SBS Fact-Check Team has continuously fact-checked claims related to May 18, and most of them have already been proven false through thorough verification. 

Rather than fact-checking each rumor anew, it seems more constructive to reshare previous fact-check reports.


In short, the merit recipient list circulating on social media today is not a "new allegation." It consists of claims that have already been scrutinized repeatedly and confirmed to be false.

Ultimately, the essential question we must ask is: "Why is it resurfacing now, of all times?"


As mentioned earlier, February 2019 was when false information regarding the merit list began spreading in earnest. At the time, a "Public Hearing on Investigating the Truth of May 18" was held at the National Assembly. Then-lawmakers Kim Jin-tae, Lee Jong-myeong, and Kim Soon-rye of the former Liberty Korea Party participated, sparking intense political and social backlash over remarks disparaging the May 18 Democratization Movement and claims of North Korean troop intervention. Following that event, a barrage of false claims emerged, including lists of alleged May 18 honorees.

Six years later, false claims almost identical to those from 2019 are resurfacing. The common thread is that a "National Assembly forum" acted as a catalyst for the spread of disinformation.


PPP lawmaker Lee Jin-sook explained that because May 18 cannot be a sanctuary, diverse perspectives should be brought into the public forum for debate. From the standpoint of freedom of speech alone, such an argument might appear plausible.

However, whether intended or not, preexisting May 18 disinformation has taken on a new context and spread anew across amplified distribution channels. The mere provision of a public arena in the form of a National Assembly forum injected new momentum into false claims. It is an entirely different matter when disinformation spreads from an obscure corner of the internet compared to when it is sparked inside the National Assembly, the representative body of the people.

Empirical research showing that May 18-related disinformation proliferated rapidly after the February 2019 parliamentary forum offers a valuable point of reference.


It illustrates the process through which previously consumed falsehoods re-enter the public domain, undergo recirculation, acquire new contextual framing, and are turned back into subjects of dispute.

Repetition can also construct belief in truth. This is known as the "Illusory Truth Effect"—a cognitive bias where repeated exposure to a claim makes people more likely to believe it is true, regardless of its factual validity. A big data study on this phenomenon was published this year in the renowned scientific journal Nature Communications.


This suggests that when preexisting falsehoods gain familiarity through public exposure, distinguishing truth from fabrication becomes increasingly difficult. In the age of social media, the danger of disinformation may lie not only in the message itself, but in the driving force behind its repetition.


While the SBS Fact-Check Team can clearly conclude that the merit recipient list circulating on social media is "false," that verdict alone cannot fully explain the ongoing resurgence of disinformation.

The mechanism by which an influential figure opening the doors of a public forum can resurrect past disinformation leaves us with an unavoidable fundamental question: "What role should our public forums serve?"
 
(Written by Kim Hyo-jin, Research assisted by Park Geun-ho)
 
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.