Yeosu World Islands Expo vows legal action over 'malicious rumors and abusive content'

A briefing session for the 2026 Yeosu World Islands Expo held in Busan

Geumodo Island in Yeosu is one of the key venues of this year's expo.

False rumors and abusive content targeting the 2026 Yeosu World Islands Expo have been spreading online in recent weeks.

Some of the material has been graphic enough to alarm parents, drawing not just criticism but outright shock from the public.

Observers have compared the situation to the notorious incident in which a group was seen eating fried chicken next to a hunger-strike tent held in memory of the Sewol ferry disaster victims.

As the campaign appeared to be organized and sustained, the expo's organizing committee said Saturday it would take firm action against unverified reports and content that maliciously cites them.

The committee said it is operating a monitoring team to track the production and spread of fabricated videos, indiscriminate defamation and reputation-damaging comments based on false information. It plans to pursue criminal complaints on charges including defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, as well as civil damages claims, with a zero-tolerance approach.

The committee also rebuffed recent media reports claiming that food ingredients had to be discarded due to a power outage at a secondary venue, calling the coverage a distortion that falsely linked an unrelated incident to the expo.

It added that it would take resolute action against sensationalist reporting and the YouTubers and internet users who maliciously amplify and spread such unverified content as misinformation.

The reports had portrayed the situation as a vendor at the secondary venue discarding all food supplies and pulling out due to a power failure. In practice, the restaurant interviewed was run by a local women's association with no direct connection to the expo.

The Yeosu night sea [Provided by the 2026 Yeosu World Islands Expo Organizing Committee]

Separate reports pointed to abandoned vessels and waste around Gukdong Port, implying the harbor connecting the expo's secondary venues had been neglected. The committee called this one-sided coverage that ignored the facts, saying "Gukdong Port is not the passenger ferry terminal linking the secondary venues of Gaedo and Geumodo, and the seized derelict vessels are being held and preserved at the port in accordance with relevant laws and regulations."

The committee said it takes seriously the situation in which some online communities, YouTubers and internet users are producing and spreading provocative videos and malicious comments that are seriously damaging the expo's image and the reputation of Yeosu citizens.

In one recent case, a user on an online community posted content falsely suggesting that heavy metals had been detected at Market Island, a restaurant inside the expo grounds. After the committee posted a warning comment, the post was immediately deleted.

The committee said it is working to enhance the visitor experience by adding new content, including weekly concerts, outdoor film screenings using media facade technology, inspirational message displays and autumn evening concerts.

Kim Jong-gi, secretary-general of the organizing committee, said the committee is "carefully attending to every small issue on the ground to ensure the expo's success." He added: "We will humbly accept constructive criticism and suggestions, but we will hold those responsible for intentional distortions and misinformation strictly accountable to the end, in order to protect the success of the expo and the honor of our citizens."

abc@heraldcorp.com