The photo spread in similar Facebook posts here, here and here, as well as on Ilbe, a South Korea forum popular with far-right groups.
Comments on the posts suggested social media users were misled to believe the photo showed a counter-protest to the October 27 worship service.
“The mass turnout of the faithful seems to have frightened these gays,” one user wrote.
“We were out there praying for their pitiful souls,” another said.
But there have been no official reports about an LGBTQ counter-protest to the Christian worship service on October 27, 2024.
Moreover, the photo shared on social media is old.
2023 Pride parade
A reverse image search on Google found the picture published by The Associated Press (AP) on July 1, 2023, with the title “South Korea Pride Parade” (archived link).
The AP’s caption read: “Participants wave on a truck during a parade as part of the Seoul Queer Culture Festival in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, July 1, 2023.”
“Thousands of people gathered on Saturday to enjoy the festival amid opposition from some protesters, Yonhap news agency reported.”
Below is a screenshot comparison between the image shared alongside the false claim on Facebook (left) and the AP’s photo taken in July 2023 (right):
The AP’s photo was published in various news reports about the pride festival, including by the Hong Kong-based newspaper the South China Morning Post and Germany’s Passauer Neue Presse (archived here and here).
The same performers standing aboard a float can also be seen in YouTube footage of the 2023 Seoul Queer Parade, posted with the description it was filmed on July 1, 2023 (archived link).
AFP also took a photo at the 2023 parade, showing the same float at a distance from a different angle.
The Seoul Queer Parade was held on June 1 in 2024, according to the organisation’s website (archived link).
AFP previously debunked a false claim about the turnout at a Pride event in South Korea.
