South Korea: AI-generated images depicting Girls' Generation's YoonA as pregnant spread online with false claims; her agency SM Entertainment says it has already filed a criminal complaint
SM Entertainment said on 28 September 2026 that illegal AI-generated images synthesising the likeness of YoonA (Im Yoon-ah), singer and actor of Girls' Generation, and false claims built on them had been made and spread on social media and online communities. Korean outlets describe images showing her apparently pregnant with a man placing a hand on her belly (his face blurred, per Star News). The agency said it had collected evidence from fan reports to its KWANGYA 119 channel and monitoring, had already filed a criminal complaint, and would respond without leniency or settlement, warning that making, posting or re-sharing the images could breach Korean defamation, portrait-rights and sexual-crime (false video) provisions.
- AI system
- Unidentified image tool
- Occurred
- Event date unknown
- Reported
- 28 September 2026
- Event location
- Unknown
- What the AI did
- Depicted or impersonated the person
- Reported harm
- Reputational Harm
- Whose AI use
- Someone else’s AI use
- Setting
- Privacy · Everyday life
- Evidence
- AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 3 sources, 1 underlying account
- 2 claims: 2 reported. 3 open questions
- People reported harmed
- 1 person
AI system as recorded: Unnamed generative-AI image tool used to synthesise her likeness (per SM Entertainment's statement)
What Happened
Star News (28 September 2026) reproduces SM Entertainment's statement in full: the agency had 'additionally confirmed' that illegal AI-generated images synthesising YoonA's portrait without authorisation, and false facts based on them, were being made and spread indiscriminately on social media and in online communities; it had gathered evidence through fan reports to KWANGYA 119 and continuous monitoring, had already filed a criminal complaint, and would respond firmly without leniency or settlement. The statement says making or posting such composites without consent, and sharing or re-posting them, may breach defamation provisions of the Information and Communications Network Act, portrait rights, and the Sexual Violence Punishment Act's provision on editing and distributing false video, and asks that re-posting, quoting and reporting with the images stop. Star News and Segye Ilbo describe the circulating image as showing YoonA with a swollen belly and a man touching it; Star News says the man's face is blurred. The agency's statement does not say when the images first appeared. SPOTV News adds that the poster tagged YoonA's real social-media account.
Reported harm
Fabricated AI images of YoonA as pregnant, with false claims about her, circulated online; her agency filed a criminal complaint (SM Entertainment via Star News and Segye Ilbo).
Outcome
OngoingSM Entertainment's 28 September 2026 statement says a criminal complaint has already been filed and that it will not offer leniency or settlement (Star News; Segye Ilbo). No police response is reported in the read sources.
What remains unknown
- When the images first appeared and on which platforms.
- Who made them and with what tool.
- The police agency handling the complaint and any investigation outcome.
What the evidence supports
AI involvement: reported. SM Entertainment's statement describes the images as illegal AI-generated images synthesising her likeness (Star News; Segye Ilbo). No tool is named and no forensic analysis is reported.
2 claims: 2 reported. What the statuses mean
Reported AI-generated images synthesising the face of YoonA (Im Yoon-ah) of Girls' Generation, showing her apparently pregnant with a man touching her belly, spread on social media and online communities together with false claims based on them.
Causal attribution. The images are described by her agency as illegal AI-generated composites; their creators are not identified.
- starnewskorea.com(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
'앞서 온라인 커뮤니티와 SNS 등에는 윤아의 얼굴을 무단으로 합성한 사진이 급속도로 퍼졌다.'; '해당 게시물에는 윤아가 배가 부른 모습으로 등장하며, 얼굴은 모자이크 처리된 한 남성이 윤아의 배 위에 손을 얹는 모습이 연출돼 논란이 일었다.'
- segye.com(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
'최근 윤아의 초상을 무단으로 합성한 불법 AI 생성 이미지와 이를 바탕으로 한 허위사실이 무분별하게 제작·유포되고 있는 상황을 추가적으로 확인했다'
- spotvnews.co.kr(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
'특히 해당 이미지 게시자가 윤아의 실제 SNS 계정을 태그해 사진을 게재하기도 했다'
Reported Her agency SM Entertainment said on 28 September 2026 that it had already filed a criminal complaint on the basis of evidence gathered from fan reports and monitoring, and would respond without leniency or settlement.
Causal attribution. Agency statement; no police action or suspect is reported.
- starnewskorea.com(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
'이를 바탕으로 이미 형사고소를 진행하였고, 어떠한 선처나 합의 없이 강경하게 대응할 예정입니다.'
- segye.com(opens in new tab) supports · Korean
'이를 바탕으로 이미 형사고소를 진행했고, 어떠한 선처나 합의 없이 강경하게 대응할 예정'
Sources
3 sources inspected, from 1 underlying account. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.
- Star News, 28 September 2026: 소녀시대 윤아, 악의적 임신 AI 합성 피해..SM "이미 형사고소"[전문](opens in new tab)
s1 · starnewskorea.com · News report · Korean · Inspected · 28 September 2026 · Shares an underlying account with another listed source · Primary
- segye.com(opens in new tab)
s2 · News report · Korean · Inspected · Shares an underlying account with another listed source
- spotvnews.co.kr(opens in new tab)
s3 · News report · Korean · Inspected · Shares an underlying account with another listed source
How the sources were read, and where the events happened
Read live in Korean on 2026-09-29 (Star News, 28 September 2026); reproduces the full SM Entertainment statement. Researcher translation. Applies to s1.
Read live in Korean on 2026-09-29 (Segye Ilbo, 28 September 2026); relays the same statement. Researcher translation. Applies to s2.
Read live in Korean on 2026-09-29 (29 September 2026); relays the statement and adds career background. Researcher translation. Applies to s3.
Event countries: Unknown. Affected-person countries: South Korea. Court countries: Unknown.
YoonA is a Korean singer and actor with a Korean drama and film career (SPOTV News) represented by SM Entertainment, whose statement cites Korean statutes (Star News). Where the images were made or first posted is not stated, and the authority receiving the complaint is not named, so no event or court country is recorded.
Reviewed for publication 2026-09-29: Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a core case (AI-generated images depicting a real, named public figure in a fabricated pregnancy, circulated with false claims). The account rests on her agency's statement, relayed by several Korean outlets; YoonA is a public figure and the subject of the statement. The images are not reproduced or described beyond the agency's description.
People described
YoonA (Im Yoon-ah), South Korean singer and actor, member of Girls' Generation
People reported harmed in this case
1 person
0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed
One depicted person, YoonA (SM Entertainment via Star News). The unidentified man in the image is not counted. Exact 1.
Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.
Tags
Cite this case
Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.
APA
NOPE. (2026). South Korea: AI-generated images depicting Girls' Generation's YoonA as pregnant spread online with false claims; her agency SM Entertainment says it has already filed a criminal complaint. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-yoona-ai-pregnancy-composite-images-sm-criminal-complaint
BibTeX
@misc{2026_yoona_ai_pregnancy_composite_images_sm_criminal_complaint,
title = {South Korea: AI-generated images depicting Girls' Generation's YoonA as pregnant spread online with false claims; her agency SM Entertainment says it has already filed a criminal complaint},
author = {NOPE},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {AI incidents},
url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-yoona-ai-pregnancy-composite-images-sm-criminal-complaint}
} Related cases
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