"Heard 'This XX'" 63.2% vs "Heard it differently" 20.0%

Media Tomato Poll
Regarding MBC Responsibility: 63.2% Say Media Suppression, 30.2% Say MBC Manipulation

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] A survey found that 6 out of 10 citizens believe President Yoon Seok-yeol used the vulgar term ‘i XX’ during his overseas trip. Regarding the controversy over the vulgar remark, the majority view was that the presidential office and the ruling party holding MBC accountable amounted to press suppression.

According to a regular public opinion survey conducted by Media Tomato on behalf of News Tomato (from the 4th to 5th, targeting 1,022 men and women aged 18 and over nationwide via wireless ARS method), 63.2% of respondents said they heard President Yoon use the vulgar term ‘i XX’. Twenty percent said they heard it differently, and 16.8% answered that they were unsure.

On the 22nd of last month, during his visit to the U.S., President Yoon was recorded by the press speaking to his aides as he left the venue of the 7th replenishment conference of the Global Fund hosted by U.S. President Biden in New York. At that time, broadcasters including MBC reported this with subtitles saying, “If these i XXs in the (U.S.) Congress don’t approve it, Biden will be embarrassed.”

While the presidential office effectively denied the vulgar remark by President Yoon, the subtitle mentioning ‘Biden’ also became an issue. According to the presidential office’s explanation, President Yoon did not refer to U.S. President Joe Biden but used the expression ‘nallimyeon’ (meaning ‘if it is dropped’). In this regard, the presidential office held MBC responsible for the initial report without verification.

The public reaction to this was also cold. Regarding the presidential office and the People Power Party holding MBC accountable for the vulgar remark controversy, 63.6% of respondents said it was ‘press suppression against MBC.’ Thirty point two percent said ‘MBC fabricated the report.’

Regarding President Yoon’s performance in office, 29.4% evaluated it positively, while 68.1% responded negatively. Positive evaluations fell by 3.4 percentage points compared to last week, while negative evaluations rose by 2.6 percentage points.

For detailed survey outlines and results related to the opinion poll, please refer to the website of the Central Election Poll Deliberation Commission.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.