North Korea’s Fire Drills Claimed as China Preparing for War

As China threatens to use military force against US Congress Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, a viral photo depicting large-caliber self-propelled guns lined up along the coast was posted on a Facebook page recently. This photo was linked and attached with the recent visit of Pelosi to Taiwan. However, running a Google Reverse Image search proves that the photo attached with the claim above is misleading.

This is about our investigation of these photos.

Social Media Claim

On August 3, 2022, one of the Facebook pages called “Pey Pey Ly” recently posted two photos showing a line of artillery sets along a beach. The post was accompanied by the caption, “I think China is strong, the truth is they’re only barking”. This post has received a lot of mixed reactions from Khmer-speaking Facebook users as they believed that those photos were really China’s artillery guns lining to attack Taiwan. This comes after China reaffirmed its threat to use military force to bring self-governing Taiwan under its control, amid threatening Chinese military exercises that have raised tensions between the sides to their highest level in years.

The following is a screenshot image from the Facebook page above that states in Khmer or translates in English as, “though China is strong enough, in fact it's just a stingy tofu, just dare to bark; do not dare to bite”.

Facebook Post | Archived Link

Photos attached to the post above were also found and shared by other users here and here, too.

Fact Check

Fact Crescendo Cambodia had started to check and verify this photo directly by running a Google Reverse Image search, which brought us to the sources containing the following photos.

An exact photo was found on CNN news media which published a photo on April 26, 2017. The same website stated in its report that it was the scene of North Korea's military drills held back in April 2017. The following image is a screenshot captured from CNN’s article with the caption as “Real-life drills in Wonsan, North Korea, to celebrate its 85th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army”. This clearly shows that the above photo does not relate with the recent visit of Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan at all.

CNN News Report | Archived Link

A similar photo was also found on The Sun news media website published on April 26, 2017. The photo was attached and captured from the website above that reads, “Hundreds of rockets and field artillery fired a simultaneous barrage of fire to mark his military’s 85th anniversary and send a clear message to the world”.

The Sun News Report | Archived Link

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You may find the details of this fact-check in Khmer language here as well.

Conclusion

Fact Crescendo Cambodia found that the photo attached to the claim above was misleading. These photos were actually the live fire drills in Wonsan, North Korea, to mark the 85th anniversary of the Korean People's Army founding in 2017.