AFP debunks claim South Korea installed Han River bridge cameras after Kospi plunge

A claim that the South Korean government installed new closed-circuit television cameras on Han River bridges to prevent investors from taking their own lives following the recent Kospi plunge spread across overseas social media — but it is false, AFP has confirmed. The French news agency said the claim is misinformation that arose from linking an existing Han River suicide-prevention system to the recent stock market drop.

AFP published a fact-check on Saturday debunking claims that circulated on X, formerly Twitter, and other social media platforms after the Kospi's sharp decline late last month. The posts alleged that South Korea had installed cameras on Han River bridges to prevent suicides following the market crash.

Some posts went further, claiming the government had stepped up surveillance of Han River bridges to stop investors from taking their own lives after the market collapse, and that authorities were censoring suicide-related news coverage. AFP said each of those claims was a misinterpretation of the facts.

According to AFP, the photographs used in those posts were taken from its own July 28 report on the Seoul Metropolitan Government's AI-based integrated monitoring system for Han River bridges. The agency said the system has no connection to the recent market downturn and has been in operation for several years.

Kim Jun-young, director of the Han River Bridge CCTV Integrated Control Center under the Seoul Metropolitan Government's fire and disaster headquarters, told AFP that construction of the control center began in April 2021 and the AI monitoring system went into full operation in January 2022.

About 900 AI-based CCTV cameras are currently installed across 17 Han River bridges. The system detects unusual behavior — such as a person approaching a danger zone or lingering for an extended period while holding a suicide-prevention phone — and immediately alerts rescue agencies. Last year alone, it flagged more than 1,200 at-risk situations.

Claims also spread on social media that the Lee Jae-myung administration was censoring suicide-related news coverage. AFP said this, too, stemmed from a misreading of a recently announced government suicide-prevention plan.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism last month unveiled a pan-government suicide-prevention plan covering media and online platforms, announcing it would use AI to monitor suicide-related online content around the clock and would ask news outlets to follow recommended reporting guidelines on cases involving public figures or young people. AFP said interpreting this as an effort to control coverage related to investors following the market drop was inconsistent with the facts.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare also told AFP it had not detected any meaningful change in suicide statistics since the recent market volatility. The latest available data, from May this year, showed 1,071 suicide deaths — 130 fewer than in the same month last year. However, suicide mortality statistics take about two months to compile, meaning figures for June and July have not yet been released.

AFP acknowledged that the government had recently announced suicide-prevention measures, including a nationwide debt-counseling hotline, but said these were separate policies from the existing Han River AI monitoring system. Misinformation spread because people mistook the system — in operation since 2021 — for a response to the recent market downturn.

Experts note that false information preying on public anxiety tends to spread rapidly through social media during disasters or periods of sharp financial market swings. They warn that posts using photographs or existing news reports out of context can easily be mistaken for fact, and advise the public to verify information through official sources or credentialed news outlets first.