Old clip suspect rekinds anti-China attitude as South Korean battle kills fire

As South Korea struggled with unprecedented wildfires that ravaged the blockbusters of the country in March 2025, a video was shared in social media posts that falsely claimed it showed a Chinese woman was beginning a deadly fire. Since October 2022, the video has actually circulated reports of a woman being arrested on suspicion of being arrested in Ecopark, Busan. Local news reports at the time said she was sentenced to jail.

The video shows plainclothes police shared a woman who appears to be trying to set fire on X on March 23, 2025.

It was shared as multiple wildfires that burned for several days in southeast South Korea (link to archive). Thirty people As of March 30 (a link to archive), the country’s largest and deadliest fire deaths.

Korean texts superimposed on the video and attributed it to the Busan police, who said: “Why did she do this on Earth?

Title claim of clip Women are Chineseand asked, “How could she set up wildfires in the wide daylight unless she is a spy?”

“When people say the case of the President of the Mon-President will be dismissed or rejected, may she start to inspire social unrest?” it added, referring to the pending decision of the Constitutional Court of South Korea (archive link).

Screenshot of False X Post, captured on March 28, 2025

The video was also shared in similar posts on YouTube, Thread and Facebook and was distributed in the context of anti-China misunderstandings after Yoon’s efforts to impose martial law.

Yoon defended his brief moratorium on civilian rule by claiming external forces, North Korea and anti-state elements work together to threaten national security and sovereignty (archived links).

He also specifically accused unidentified Chinese of flying drones for photographing spy agent buildings in Seoul and American Airlines that docked in Busan.

As of March 31, However, there is no official report that the Chinese deliberately set the wildfires in March 2025.

Police in the North Gonsang province told AFP they investigated a 56-year-old man who allegedly tended to be fire at the cemetery of his grandparents in Uiseong on March 22, the cemetery of Uiseong, a 12,800 hectares of attacked area affected by its woodland, which was affected by 12,800 hectares.

The Ministry of Home Affairs also said that the “spark of brushes” has triggered some fires. The flames were fanned by strong winds and super dry conditions, and the southeast rainfall was below average after South Korea experienced its hottest year in 2024 (link to archive).

2022 Busan arson suspect

Keyword searches on YouTube resulted in the same video released by Korean media Hello TV News (archive link) in October 2022.

According to a news report by South Korean broadcaster YTN, the video shows plainclothes officers arrested a woman who will “soak paper towels in cooking oil in fields” (a link to archive) in a tobacco battle in Ecopark, Busan, after multiple fire reports.

Yonhap News reported that the arson suspect was sentenced to jail in May 2023 and that the woman’s dementia was a relief factor (archived link).

No local media reports about the case said the woman was a Chinese national.