President Yoon Suk Yeol accuses South Korea’s media of damaging its alliance with United States

The accusation was made after a TV broadcaster released a video suggesting that South Korean President Yoon insulted U.S. Congress members following a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in New York last week.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on September 26 accused the country’s media of damaging its alliance with the United States after a TV broadcaster released a video suggesting that he insulted U.S. Congress members following a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in New York last week.

MBC caught Yoon on tape talking to his aides and top diplomats following a brief chat with Mr. Biden on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly meetings. While the audio was unclear, Yoon could be heard using what seemed as indecent language during comments the broadcaster captioned as: “Wouldn’t it be too darn embarrassing for Mr. Biden if those idiots at legislature don’t approve?”

Yoon’s meeting with Mr. Biden came after they both delivered speeches in support of the Global Fund, an international campaign to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The Biden administration has pledged $6 billion in U.S. contributions to the initiative through 2025, but it's pending congressional approval. Yoon’s government has promised $100 million.

After the MBC video roused the internet and triggered criticism from rival politicians decrying a “diplomatic disaster,” Yoon’s office denied the report hours later on Thursday, insisting that wasn’t talking about the U.S. Congress or Mr. Biden.

Kim Eun-hye, Yoon’s spokesperson, said he was expressing concern that South Korea’s Opposition-controlled National Assembly could reject his plans for the $100 million contribution. She said the word MBC heard as Mr. Biden was actually “nal-li-myeon,” an expression that can be used to describe something being thrown away. She didn’t specifically address Yoon’s apparent use of a word that could be translated as “idiots.”

Talking to reporters in Seoul on Monday after wrapping up his trip in Canada, Yoon stuck with his office’s version of the story. He said that the media could put South Korea’s security in danger by “damaging the alliance with reports that differ from facts.”

Yoon called for a need to find the “truth” behind the reports that described him as insulting U.S. lawmakers while leaders of his conservative People Power Party threatened to take action against MBC.