'Biden vs Nallimyeon' Victory for Foreign Ministry: "MBC Irresponsible Reporting... Restoring Trust in Korean Diplomacy"

Court Orders "MBC to Issue a Correction"

President Yoon Suk-yeol is attending a luncheon meeting with the members of the National Economic Advisory Council held at the Presidential Office building in Yongsan, Seoul, on the 11th, reviewing the annual report published by the advisory council. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its position that the court's ruling ordering MBC to issue a correction regarding the subtitle controversy that arose during President Yoon Seok-yeol's visit to the United States in September 2022 will serve as an opportunity to restore trust in our diplomacy.

On the 12th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, "This ruling is expected to correct MBC's inaccurate report and serve as an opportunity to restore trust in our diplomacy."

It added, "The court's detailed voice analysis confirmed that the President did not make the remarks as reported by MBC at all," and criticized, "Nevertheless, the broadcaster, which claims to be public, irresponsibly manipulated subtitles without scientific and objective verification procedures, producing false reports that significantly impact national interests."

Earlier, the 12th Civil Division of the Seoul Western District Court (Presiding Judge Seong Ji-ho) ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the correction request lawsuit filed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs against MBC.

The court ordered MBC to read the correction statement at the beginning of the first News Desk program broadcast after the ruling is finalized and to display the title and body of the correction statement as subtitles. If this is not complied with, a penalty of 1 million KRW per day will be imposed starting the day after the deadline expires.

When President Yoon visited New York, USA, on September 22, 2022, as he was leaving an international conference hall, he was recorded on the press pool footage saying, "If these XX in the National Assembly don't approve it, OOO, how embarrassing would that be?"

Subsequently, MBC reported this with subtitles inserting "Biden" in place of "OOO." However, the Presidential Office clarified that the President said "nallimyeon" (meaning "if it is dropped") and was referring to our National Assembly, not the U.S. Congress.

As the gap between the government and MBC's positions did not narrow, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs underwent mediation procedures at the Korea Press Arbitration Commission, and when unresolved, filed a lawsuit against MBC in December 2022 requesting a correction.