South Korean police arrest man for delaying wolf recapture with fake AI image

South Korean police have arrested a 40-year-old man for posting an AI-generated image of an escaped wolf, which misled authorities and delayed the animal's recapture by up to nine days. The incident unfolded after a beloved two-year-old male wolf named Neukgu burrowed out of its enclosure at a zoo in Daejeon on April 8, sparking a nationwide search that gripped the public.

According to Daejeon Metropolitan police, the man created and distributed the fake photo purporting to show Neukgu trotting down a specific road intersection, diverting search efforts to the wrong location. , as officers redeployed resources based on the misleading sighting, according to police statements reported by Channel News Asia and AFP. Neukgu was finally recaptured nine days later, on April 17, ending the frantic operation.