On May 9, Jung Yoon-min shared a selfie on his personal account with the caption, “Meeting Bread-hyung in the alleys of Bukchon is amazing!” The photo showed him standing side-by-side with Brad Pitt against the backdrop of Bukchon Hanok Village. While his friends questioned if it was AI, Jung remained silent. However, as the photo spread, news reports began surfacing, leading many to believe the Hollywood superstar had actually visited Korea.
Jung stayed quiet for two days despite the continuing reports. He only spoke up on social media after concerns were raised regarding potential portrait rights infringement and the spread of false information.
On the 11th, Jung explained, “So many people are asking if he visited Korea, so I’m posting this explanation. To get straight to the point, it is an AI-generated image.” He added, “I was actually scared by how precisely real people and backgrounds can be created, so I shared it lightly to raise awareness, but it unintentionally received a lot of attention.” He expressed surprise at how advanced technology has become, noting that it even triggered news articles, and warned everyone to be careful not to be fooled by fake photos.
Along with his explanation, Jung updated the tag on the AI photo to “A brother who looks like Brad Pitt.”
While Jung posted the AI image as a joke, using a real person’s likeness can be problematic. This is why there are growing calls to clearly label AI-generated photos and videos.
Even AI-generated images can be interpreted as infringing on portrait rights if the individual is identifiable. There are also concerns about violating a celebrity’s right of publicity, and making people believe a meeting actually happened could be seen as deceiving the public or defaming the person involved.
Starting in 2026, Korea is strengthening the obligation to label AI-generated content. Posting AI images without disclosure and causing confusion could lead to platform regulations or legal sanctions.
As an actor himself, Jung Yoon-min may need to be more mindful of portrait and publicity rights regarding AI posts.
Jung Yoon-min has appeared in films such as ‘Night of the Undying Humans’, ‘Alumni’, ‘The Calm Before the Storm’, and ‘Chow’.
