Court orders foreign ministry to drop lawsuit against MBC over Yoon's hot mic

A court on Wednesday ordered the foreign ministry to drop a lawsuit against broadcaster MBC over former President Yoon Suk Yeol's controversial remarks caught on a hot mic during his visit to the United States in 2022. Under the compulsory mediation, or "decision in lieu of conciliation," the Seoul High Court ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to withdraw the lawsuit and instructed MBC to consent to the decision. Under Korean law, a compulsory mediation can be ordered by a court when no settlement is reached during a mediation process in a civil lawsuit. It becomes final if neither party files an objection within two weeks. The former president's remarks, which experts say are difficult to discern due to background noise, were subtitled by MBC to make it sound like the president used vulgar language when mentioning then U.S. President Joe Biden. Yoon's office later argued there was no mention of Biden and claimed the word he used was in reference to the Korean National Assembly. "Considering the nature of the remarks, the freedom of the press and expression along with the social costWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times