Fact check: North Korean military uniforms are often heavily decorated, but not like image claims
Chiara VercelloneThe claim: Image shows North Korean generals with medals pinned to sleeves, pants
An image that has circulated on social media for years is back on Facebook, and people still believe it's real.
The image, shared July 31, depicts at least eight men in heavily decorated military uniforms. They have medals pinned to their jackets, sleeves and pants.
"North Koreans haven't gone to war in 60 years, but look at all the medals their generals are wearing, we could defeat them with a magnet," the caption reads.
The image has accrued over 900 shares and 3,000 reactions.
But this image is altered. While the original image shows the uniformed men with plenty of medals pinned to their jackets, there aren't any on the sleeves or pants.
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USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user for comment.
Photo is altered
A few things hint that the image has been altered. First, the medals pinned to the pants seem to be the result of copy and paste from medals pinned on the bottom right corner of the men's jackets.
The medals and their placements on the sleeves of the last four men in line are also identical.
The unaltered image has been online since as early as 2005, when it was shared on a Russian blog. USA TODAY didn't find the original image as posted by an official entity, but similar photos depict military men with medals pinned only to their uniform jackets.
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The image posted on social media was debunked by Snopes when it was viral in 2016.
USA TODAY found versions of the altered image from as early as 2013 shared on Reddit, Twitter, Know Your Meme and a self-described liberal independent website.
Our rating: Altered
Based on our research, we rate ALTERED the image that claims to show North Korean military generals with medals pinned to their uniform jackets, sleeves and pants. USA TODAY didn't find the official image, but the original version of this image shows the men with medals on jackets only, not sleeves and pants. Similar military photos also show men with nearly identical medals on the jackets only. The images shared on social media have often been shared on humor websites.
Our fact-check sources:
- Yaplakal, April 21, 2005, blog post
- Getty Images, Oct. 10, 1995, Files - Korean News Service image
- We Are The Majority, Sept. 19, 2019, The world's 7 goofiest-looking military uniforms(North Korea image)
- Snopes, May 16, 2016, Is This an Unaltered Photograph of North Korean Officers with Medals?
- User undue-influence, Aug. 28, 2014, Full Medal Jacket - North Korea Reddit Reddit thread (archived)
- User @Dollarlogic, July 28, 2017, Tweet (archived)
- Know Your Meme, accessed August 2, North Korea - A Magnet Will Do (archived)
- Democratic Underground, Feb. 7, 2013, North Korea's generals and their medals - pic (archived)//
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Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.