Korean court orders MBC to rectify report on Yoon's hot mic

President Yoon Suk Yeol (Yonhap)

The Seoul Western District Court on Friday ordered public broadcaster MBC to rectify its report on President Yoon Suk Yeol's alleged use of foul language during an informal exchange with then-Foreign Minister Park Jin in New York in September 2022.

In response, MBC on Friday said "we will appeal immediately to correct the erroneous ruling of the first trial."

The court issued the order in response to a lawsuit filed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which claimed that the video subtitles used in MBC's report were incorrect.

“At the beginning of the first broadcast of MBC’s main evening news program, ‘News Desk,’ after the decision, in this case, is made, the host has to read a statement of correction once at normal speed, and its title and text have to be displayed as subtitles at the same time,” the court ordered.

“If this is not fulfilled, compensation has to be paid in the amount of 1 million won ($760) per day for each day of delay.”

In September 2022, President Yoon’s trip to New York was marred by controversy after footage of him using a swear word soon after meeting US President Joe Biden went viral.

Yoon was caught on tape using the word “saekki” which roughly translates to “bastard" in English. His remarks, which were not clear due to background noise, were broadcast by MBC with a subtitle that indicated the foul language had been directed to Biden and the US Congress.

Amid mounting dispute over whether he said Biden’s name and whether he was referring to US lawmakers or South Korean lawmakers, Yoon’s office claimed Yoon was not talking about Biden or US lawmakers. Yoon also blamed the media for reports, saying such "false reports" are "undermining the alliance" with the US.

The Foreign Ministry filed a lawsuit against MBC in December 2022 after failing to resolve the differences at the Press Arbitration Commission. MBC refused to issue a correction because it does not consider the report to be “false.”

The Foreign Ministry explained that the lawsuit had been filed to “correct the facts” and “restore trust to Korea's diplomacy.” It said, "MBC's 'incorrect' media reports damaged Korea's credibility in diplomatic activities at home and abroad.”

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry on Friday issued a statement as soon as the court's correction order was made.

“This ruling is expected to serve as an opportunity to rectify the false report and restore trust in Korea's diplomacy,” it said.

Yoon's office said the court's "ruling would serve to restore public confidence in our diplomacy and our government."

"By rectifying the false report, we will finally be able to put an end to such baseless political strife," said presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon during a briefing.

"It was extremely irresponsible for a public broadcaster to have produced false reports that had a significant impact on national interests while manipulating subtitles without a scientific or objective verification process," Lee added.

But MBC on Friday expressed its objection to the court decision, arguing that the ruling contradicts established precedents, including the Supreme Court judgment that the state or local governments, as exercising authorities, cannot be victims of defamation or insult.

Emphasizing that the reporting on the president's "verbal abuse" was not selectively biased, MBC asserted, "It was the collective outcome of not only the MBC reporter's conscience but also the collective intelligence of the entire on-site journalism team."

By Lee Jaeeun(jenn@heraldcorp.com)