S. Korea police arrest man over AI image of runaway wolf that misled authorities

South Korea police arrest man for posting AI photo of runaway wolf

South Korean police have arrested a man for sharing an AI-generated image that misled authorities who were searching for a wolf that had broken out of a zoo in Daejeon city.

The 40-year-old unnamed man is accused of disrupting the search by creating and distributing a fake photo purporting to show Neukgu, the wolf, trotting down a road intersection.

The photo, circulated hours after Neukgu went missing on 8 April, prompted authorities to urgently relocate their search operation, sending them on a wild wolf chase.

The hunt for two-year-old Neukgu gripped the nation before he was finally caught near an expressway last week, nine days after his escape.

The AI-generated image of Neukgu had prompted Daejeon city government to issue an emergency text to residents, warning them of a wolf near the intersection. Authorities also presented the AI image during a press briefing on the runaway wolf, local media reported.

The police identified the man as a suspect after reviewing security camera footage and his AI programme usage records. Authorities did not specify if the man had intentionally sent the photo to authorities during their search or simply shared it online.

When questioned by the police, the man said he had done it "for fun", local media reported.

Authorities are investigating him for disrupting government work by deception, an offence that carries up to five years in prison or a maximum fine of 10 million Korean won ($6,700; £5,000)

For more than a week, the search for Neukgu captured the attention of South Koreans across the country - including the country's president Lee Jae Myung, who publicly prayed for the wolf's safe return.

Born in 2024, Neukgu is part of a programme at O-World to restore the Korean wolf, which once roamed the Korean Peninsula but is now considered extinct in the wild.

Since he was safely taken back to the zoo, the city has been swept by a craze for Neukgu. A local bakery started selling a pastry featuring the wolf's face, and the city is reportedly considering naming him as an official local mascot.

A video posted by the zoo showing Neukgu eating meat in his enclosure racked up more than one million views - though the zoo has since announced that it would no longer post updates on Neukgu to give him a calm environment for recovery.