Yoon Suk-yeol was overheard on a hot mic and seen on camera seemingly insulting US lawmakers after briefly meeting with US President Joe Biden at the Global Fund in New York.
SEOUL - South Korea's president has denied insulting key security ally the United States, claiming to have been mistranslated, prompting further domestic incredulity on Friday.
The footage quickly went viral in South Korea, with a YouTube video racking up five million views in less than a day and the Korean expletive Yoon purportedly used trending on Twitter. Speaking at a press briefing in New York on Thursday, Kim claimed that Yoon did not actually say "Biden" but a similar-sounding Korean word, and that he was referring to South Korean, not US, lawmakers.
"MBC should gravely be held accountable for its report that has damaged the irreplaceable US-Korea alliance," wrote MP Yoon Sang-hyun on his Facebook account."It is utterly shameful and embarrassing for our kids that our presidential office has come up with such an excuse," one commentator wrote on YouTube.