The claim originated from a video (archived here) published on TikTok by @suzingmm on December 20, 2023. The caption in the video, translated from Korean into English by Lead Stories staff, reads:

1 trillion dollar factory for 140,000 won

To the number one salesperson (Yoon) Seok Yeol

This is your grade.

This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:

(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Fri Dec 22 14:38:34 2023 UTC)

According to a press release by Hyundai (archived here), on December 19, 2023, the Korean company approved the sale of the Russian plant. Several Korean news outlets, including Donga News (archived here), Chosun Ilbo (archived here), and Hankyoreh (archived here), reported on Hyundai Motor Company selling its Russian plant for 140,000 won. However, there is no evidence supporting the TikTok video's claim that the Russian plant is worth 1 trillion dollars.

The St. Petersburg plant, inactive since March 2022, incurred 1.13 trillion won (approx. $ 877 million) in losses due to the Russia-Ukraine War, as reported by Hankyoreh. Additionally, Chosun Ilbo notes Hyundai's intention to sell the General Motors plant in St. Petersburg, acquired for 50 billion won in 2020. It also reported that the book value of Hyundai Motor Company's Russian plant is approximately 410 billion won, while Donga News, along with Hankyoreh, reported a market value of 287.3 billion won (approx. $223 million).

Investopedia defines market value as the company's valuation based on the stock market, while book value represents the amount shareholders would receive after liquidating assets and settling liabilities. In instances where the market value falls below the book value, such as observed with Hyundai Motor Company's Russian plants, it signals a lack of confidence from the stock market in the company's perceived worth as stated in its financial books.

The sale at a loss of $219 million of Hyundai in Russia is in line with a broader trend observed among Western car companies selling at a loss and exiting the country.

The claim originated from a video (archived here) published by @user7175631774662 on TikTok on October 27, 2023. It opened (translated from Korean to English by Lead Stories staff):

These are the benefits of barefoot walking, confirmed by New York-based health news <MERCOLA>.

This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:

(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Thu Nov 16 01:19:53 2023 UTC)

MERCOLA is not a reliable health news publication. The website's creator and owner is Dr. Joseph Mercola, known as an active spreader of anti-vaccine misinformation, profiting from misleading claims related to coronavirus vaccines. He promotes the concept of "natural health" instead of contemporary medicine. The headquarters of Mercola.com are in Cape Coral, Florida, not in New York City.

While there are several studies about barefoot walking's positive effects, results are not unanimously confirmed by researchers due to limited evidence. Advocates call barefoot walking "earthing" or "grounding," claiming it provides additional health benefits compared to walking or hiking with your shoes on. There are several research studies advocating for "earthing." However, most of them were conducted by Stephen T. Sinatra and J.L. Oschman, researchers who were linked to an earthing product-selling company. One of their studies in 2012 carried this disclaimer:

G. Chevalier, S. T. Sinatra, and J. L. Oschman are independent contractors for Earthx L. Inc., the company sponsoring earthing research, and own a small percentage of shares in the company.

The claim appeared in a video by @ssulchoissajang on TikTok on October 17, 2023. It has a text overlay (translated from Korean into English by Lead Stories staff) that reads:

Artificial tears will not be covered by the National Healthcare agency unless you have dry eye syndrome, so you will have to buy it at ten times the price.

This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:

(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Fri Oct 20 02:52:46 2023 UTC)

As of September 6, 2023, HIRA released the eligibility review of insurance-covered medicine and determined that eye drops, known in Korea as artificial tears, prescribed for externally caused dry eye syndrome may not be eligible to be covered and subsidized by the national health care plan. The agency made no mention of the price or the possibility of price increases for the product in the event it was removed from the national medicine registry.

Several news reports speculated the price could increase by a maximum 10-fold. As these reports spread, HIRA issued another press release to say the agency had not finalized its decision and was still reviewing the matter, adding that even if the artificial tears were eliminated from the list of national health care-subsidized drugs, it would more likely become two to three times more expensive, not 10 times.

The claim was published in a video (archived here) by the account @nangezaici on TikTok, on August 25, 2023, under the title "심하다 핵오염수 배출 현장." It says (translated from Korean to English by Lead Stories staff): "Discharge of radioactively contaminated water gone too far." One of the hashtags is (translated) Fukushima. The video began:

Actual footage of radioactive contaminated water discharge

This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:

(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon Aug 28 02:09:33 2023 UTC)

The post claims that the video shows Fukushima discharge. But in fact, the footage is from Acapulco, Mexico. The footage went viral in 2020 as "Acapulco black water sewage." It shows dirty black water going directly into Acapulco Bay, a popular tourist area in Mexico. Mexican local authorities started an investigation after the video went viral, according to Reuters.

As of August 24, 2023, Japan started the planned discharge of Fukushima treated water to the Pacific Ocean.