Anchor: South Korean politicians are wrangling over President Yoon Suk Yeol's remarks caught on a hot mic last week during his trip to New York. While the opposition claims that Yoon used profanity and improper language in reference to U.S. Congress members and President Joe Biden, the ruling party blamed local broadcaster MBC, saying that its subtitles caused all the controversy. The main opposition party says Yoon's foreign minister should step down.
Kim Bum-soo has wrapped up the latest.

Report: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was coming out of the conference of the Geneva-based Global Fund to Fight AIDS on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Wednesday in New York.

Walking next to his foreign minister, Yoon’s remarks were captured in a camera microphone.

[Sound bite: S. Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (Korean)]
"국회에서 이 **들이 승인 안 해 주면, (inaudible)은 쪽팔려서 어떡하나?" 

While some of his word choice were not clearly recorded due to background noise, media outlets and the main opposition Democratic Party cited Yoon as saying “How could Biden not lose his d*** face”  if those at the National Assembly, punctuated by profanity, do not approve the related bill.

The presidential office refuted the controversial dictation, saying that the word that was heard by others as “Biden” was in fact the Korean word for “throwing out,” referring to the Korean parliament’s possible refusal to pass a related bill.

While arguing that Yoon was expressing his concern that South Korea's National Assembly might reject his pledge to contribute 100 million dollars to the Global Fund, the presidential office also claimed that the profanity was not directed at the members of the U.S. Congress.

But Yoon's hot mic moment has already become the hottest topic in Korean politics.

One-hundred-69 main opposition Democratic Party lawmakers on Tuesday unanimously decided to file a motion to dismiss foreign minister Park Jin, saying that someone has to be held responsible for the controversy and other alleged diplomatic errors made during the president's recent overseas trip. 

DP said unless Park is fired, the South Korea-U.S. alliance will "collapse like a sandcastle."

DP floor leader Park Hong-keun said there is growing concern that Yoon's ambivalent attitude toward the U.S. could be gravely detrimental to the South Korea-U.S. alliance.

The ruling People Power Party floor leader Joo ho-young blamed local broadcaster MBC for initially reporting about Yoon's alleged comment in question with subtitles and making it sound like it was in reference to the U.S. president and Congress.

The ruling camp will form a taskforce to shed light on the alleged distortion of Yoon's words and media reporting on the matter.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.