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South Koreans puzzled over Busan airport backdrop in US warning to Maduro
Some social media users questioned why the White House used the image for a message tied to the Venezuela operation
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A blunt White House social media post following the arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro has drawn unexpected attention among South Koreans online, where users quickly identified the photo’s background as a South Korean airport and began speculating about whether its use carried a hidden message.
The post, uploaded on Saturday to the White House’s official social media accounts, featured a black-and-white image of US President Donald Trump walking up the stairs, stamped with the acronym FAFO, a slang expression meaning “F*** Around and Find Out”. The caption read, “No games. FAFO.”
While the message was widely interpreted as a warning directed at Maduro and other adversaries, Korean-language comments soon flooded the post after online users recognised the setting as Gimhae International Airport in Busan.
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The image was taken in October when Trump visited South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a nearby airbase.
Screenshots of Korean comments questioning the photo choice circulated across online communities, with some users asking why the White House used an image taken in South Korea for a message tied to a US military operation in Latin America.
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