AI videos demeaning freedom fighter cast tech's dark shadow over upcoming Independence holiday
Published: 27 Feb. 2026, 07:00
Updated: 27 Feb. 2026, 12:56
![An image from a TikTok video featuring an AI-rendered Yu Gwan-sun (1902-1920), a teenage activist of the 1919 independence movement who died after torture in Japanese custody [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/02/27/282029b4-d064-4c8e-829a-26682f5acb70.jpg)
An image from a TikTok video featuring an AI-rendered Yu Gwan-sun (1902-1920), a teenage activist of the 1919 independence movement who died after torture in Japanese custody [SCREEN CAPTURE]
AI has helped restore and colorize images of Korea’s independence activists during the Japanese colonial rule (1910-45) in recent years, offering new ways to remember the past, but new videos have revealed a dark side of the technology and sparked outrage ahead of the March 1 Independence Movement Day.
A TikTok user began uploading AI videos on Sunday, seemingly mocking Yu Gwan-sun (1902-1920), a teenage activist of the 1919 independence movement who died after torture in Japanese custody. The three clips have drawn more than 200,000 views in total.
One video depicts Yu passing gas and saying she feels relieved. Another shows her expressing affection toward the Japanese flag before a mouth appears on the flag and replies, “I don’t like you.”
A third shows a figure with Yu’s upper body appended to a rocket, shouting “Yu Gwan-sun gas rocket” before blasting into space.
The creator produced the clips using OpenAI’s video generation AI, Sora.
The material appears to have referenced a well-known photograph of Yu in a prison uniform taken after authorities jailed her for participating in the March 1 Movement. The AI rendering exaggerates her swollen face, which historical accounts attribute to torture at Seodaemun Prison in Seodaemun District, western Seoul.
The TikTok clips stand in contrast to a project by SK Telecom last year that used AI to create a colorized video of independence activists singing the national anthem together to mark the 80th anniversary of liberation. The video also featured Yu.
Online users condemned the TikTok videos as disrespectful, especially with the March 1 holiday approaching. Some wrote that the content "crossed the line and cannot count as humor," while others questioned the creator’s intent.
Yu Hye-kyung, Yu Gwan-sun’s grand-niece and head of the Yu Gwan-sun Memorial Hall Cheonan branch in South Chungcheong, expressed pain over the videos.
“It feels like my heart is being stabbed,” she told Yonhap News Agency on Thursday. “Our family has lived quietly and tried to protect her legacy. I do not think this is right for the country.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JANG GU-SEUL, PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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