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Medium reported severity Criminal Charges

Seoul court fines a district office official 6 million won for posting generative-AI fake couple photos of a female colleague on his social media profile

The Seoul Southern District Court on 11 September 2026 fined a male official in his fifties at a Seoul district office a total of 6 million won for making and posting false images and for defamation, according to Korean reports of the ruling. Under the charges, in November 2025 he took a photo of a female colleague in his department from the office's organisation chart, used generative AI to composite it into pictures that made them look like a couple, and posted them four times on his social media profile. The judge cited the colleague's statement that she felt shame, insult and disgust, and that rumours had spread at work. Police had initially found no offence before the case was sent back to prosecutors. Both he and the prosecution appealed, and the Seoul city personnel committee voted to dismiss him.

AI system
Unidentified image tool
Occurred
Nov 2025
Reported
11 September 2026
Event location
South Korea
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Psychological DistressReputational Harm
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Work · Relationships · Justice
Evidence
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution established · 3 sources, 2 underlying accounts
6 claims: 6 reported. 3 open questions
People reported harmed
1 person

AI system as recorded: Generative AI, not named in the reports, used to composite a colleague's photo into fake couple pictures (one report also describes the tool as a photo-editing app)

What Happened

The photos. According to the charges as reported by Yonhap on 11 September 2026, in November 2025 a male official in his fifties at a Seoul district office took a photo of a female colleague in the same department from the office's organisation chart, used generative AI to composite it into pictures in which they appeared to be a couple, and posted them four times on his social media profile. Kyeonggi Ilbo describes the pictures as showing her embracing him from behind or with a hand on his shoulder, and says he made them with a photo-editing app.

The ruling. The Seoul Southern District Court convicted him on all counts and fined him 5 million won under the Sexual Violence Punishment Act and 1 million won for defamation, with a 40-hour treatment programme. The judge said images can qualify when tight clothing reveals body contours, not only when bodies are exposed, and cited her statement that she felt shame, insult and disgust at once and that rumours had spread at work. He had argued the images could not cause sexual shame and that his face-recognition impairment meant people would not recognise her. Prosecutors had sought ten months in prison.

Afterwards. Newslaw reported that the case was first reported in March 2026, when police initially found no offence before further investigation of the defamation; that he appealed on 17 September and prosecutors also appealed; and that the Seoul city personnel committee voted to dismiss him.

Limits. The judgment was not inspected. The reports differ on the tool: Yonhap and SBS give generative AI in the charges, and Kyeonggi Ilbo, which also says the photos were composited with AI, describes the tool as a photo-editing app. He admitted in court making and posting the false images.

Reported harm

According to the court as reported, a colleague whose photo was composited with generative AI into fake couple pictures posted on an official's social media felt shame, insult and disgust, and rumours spread at work; the official was fined and dismissed.

Outcome

Ongoing

Seoul Southern District Court, 11 September 2026: fines of 5 million won for editing and distributing false images under the Sexual Violence Punishment Act and 1 million won for defamation, plus a 40-hour treatment programme. The defendant appealed on 17 September and prosecutors also appealed; the Seoul city personnel committee voted to dismiss him (Newslaw, 21 September 2026).

What remains unknown

  • Which AI tool or app was used; the reports name generative AI and a photo-editing app but no product.
  • The outcome of the appeals and of any challenge to the dismissal.
  • How widely the photos were seen.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: supported. The charges, as reported by Yonhap and Newslaw, state that he used generative AI to composite the colleague's photo into fake couple pictures, and the court convicted him on all counts. The pictures depicted the colleague (depicted_or_impersonated) and the judge cited her shame and the rumours that followed. Kyeonggi Ilbo also says he composited the photos with AI and describes the tool as a photo-editing app; he admitted in court making and posting the false images. The technical basis of the AI description is not disclosed.

6 claims: 6 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported Under the charges, in November 2025 he took a photo of a female colleague in the same department from the office's organisation chart, used generative AI to composite it into pictures making them look like a couple, and posted them four times on his social media profile.

Causal attribution. The charges as reported by Yonhap and Newslaw; Kyeonggi Ilbo also says the faces were composited with AI and names a photo-editing app (claim c5).

  • yna.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    '구청 조직도에서 내려받은 같은 과 B씨의 사진을 생성형 AI를 활용해 자신과 연인 사이인 것처럼 합성한 뒤 네 차례에 걸쳐 자신의 SNS 프로필에 게시한 혐의를 받는다'
  • newslaw.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    'AI로 이를 합성해 마치 연인 관계인 것처럼 꾸며 자신의 SNS 프로필에 게시한 것으로 조사됐다'
  • kyeonggi.com(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    '동료 여직원의 얼굴을 인공지능(AI)으로 합성해 마치 연인 사이인 것처럼 가짜 사진을 만들어 자신의 소셜미디어(SNS)에 올린'
Reported On 11 September 2026 the Seoul Southern District Court convicted him on all counts and fined him 6 million won in total (5 million won under the Sexual Violence Punishment Act and 1 million won for defamation).

Causal attribution. Court outcome as reported; the judgment was not inspected.

Reported The judge cited the colleague's statement that she felt shame, insult and disgust on seeing the images and that rumours had spread at work, leaving her ashamed and afraid.

Causal attribution. The judge's account of the victim's statement.

  • yna.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    '피해자는 피고인이 올린 허위 영상물을 보고 수치심, 모욕감, 혐오감이 한 번에 몰려왔다고 진술하고 있다'; '사건 이후 사내에 소문이 퍼져 수치심과 두려움이 크다고 말하는 상황'
Reported Police initially found no offence; afterwards he and the prosecution both appealed and the Seoul city personnel committee voted to dismiss him.

Causal attribution. Newslaw report; the dismissal decision itself was not inspected.

  • newslaw.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    '초기 수사 단계에서는 '혐의없음' 처분을 받으며 논란이 됐다'; '지난 17일 법원에 항소장을 냈고, 검찰 역시 양형이 가볍다고 보고 항소한 것으로 알려졌다'; '해임 처분을 의결했다'
Reported Kyeonggi Ilbo, which also says the compositing was done with AI, says he made the pictures with a photo-editing app.

Causal attribution. Detail on the tool; the same report says the compositing was done with AI, so it does not contradict the charges reported by Yonhap. No product is named.

  • kyeonggi.com(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    '사진 편집 애플리케이션(앱)을 이용해'; '동료 여직원의 얼굴을 인공지능(AI)으로 합성해'
Reported In court he admitted the defamation and making and posting the false images, but denied that they could cause sexual shame or that he intended that.

Causal attribution. The defendant's position in court as reported by Kyeonggi Ilbo and Yonhap.

  • kyeonggi.com(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    '명예훼손 혐의와 허위 영상물 제작·게시 사실은 인정하면서도'
  • yna.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
    '자신이 게시한 영상물이 피해자의 성적 수치심을 유발하기 어렵고 그럴 고의도 없었다고 주장했지만'

Sources

3 sources inspected, from 2 underlying accounts. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in the original Korean on 2026-10-22 (HTTP 200). English renderings in this record are the research agent's (an AI's) own translations; no human translator reviewed them. Report of the 11 September 2026 ruling and the charges. Applies to s1.

Read in the original Korean on 2026-10-22 (HTTP 200). English renderings in this record are the research agent's (an AI's) own translations; no human translator reviewed them. Separate report of the same hearing; it describes the tool as a photo-editing app. Applies to s2.

Read in the original Korean on 2026-10-22 (HTTP 200). English renderings in this record are the research agent's (an AI's) own translations; no human translator reviewed them. Later report on the dismissal, the appeals and the initial police decision. Applies to s3.

Event countries: South Korea. Affected-person countries: South Korea. Court countries: South Korea.

The photo came from a Seoul district office's organisation chart, the colleague works at that office, and the Seoul Southern District Court decided the case.

Reviewed for publication 2026-10-22: Published as a core case (depicted_or_impersonated): a Seoul court convicted and fined an official whose charges say he used generative AI to make fake couple photos of a colleague and posted them, and cited her shame and workplace rumours. Two reporting chains (ruling reports; Newslaw on the dismissal); one report also describes the tool as a photo-editing app.

People described

A female public employee in the same department of a Seoul district office

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

One person, the colleague depicted in the photos (court ruling as reported). Exact 1.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#ai-composite#workplace#false-images#criminal-fine#south-korea

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Seoul court fines a district office official 6 million won for posting generative-AI fake couple photos of a female colleague on his social media profile. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-seoul-court-fines-district-office-official-for-posting-generative-ai-fake-couple-photos-of-female-colleague

BibTeX

@misc{2025_seoul_court_fines_district_office_official_for_posting_generative_ai_fake_couple_photos_of_female_colleague,
  title = {Seoul court fines a district office official 6 million won for posting generative-AI fake couple photos of a female colleague on his social media profile},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-seoul-court-fines-district-office-official-for-posting-generative-ai-fake-couple-photos-of-female-colleague}
}

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