Reporters Without Borders(RSF) says it is concerned by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s verbal attacks and what it described as discriminatory measures against public broadcaster MBC.

In a statement posted on its website on Monday, the Paris-based agency said such moves by Yoon “threaten the public’s right to information and encourage harassment of journalists.”

RSF then urged Yoon to retract the discriminatory measures taken against MBC and to reinstate his daily meetings with the press that were recently suspended for an indefinite period.

The agency cited the presidential office’s disapproval of MBC’s coverage of Yoon’s comments after his meeting with Biden on the sidelines of a UN General Assembly meeting, denouncing the broadcaster for what it labeled as “causing serious harm to national interests” in late September.

It also noted that the top office barred MBC reporters from boarding the presidential plane during Yoon's trip to Southeast Asia last month and suspended Yoon’ daily media briefings later the same month after he was questioned on the MBC ban.

RSF East Asia Bureau Head Cédric Alviani stressed that “under no circumstances should a head of state decide which media can report on their activity, how they report and which questions are suitable to be asked.”