Presidential Office: "Doorstepping Halted... Cannot Continue Without Preventing Recurrence"

MBC Reporter and Presidential Office Secretary's Verbal Clash Called an "Unfortunate Incident"

On the 20th, during the doorstepping (brief Q&A on the way to work), the Presidential Office installed a wooden plywood partition behind the area where reporters stand, blocking the corridor between the main gate and the press room.

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] President Yoon Suk-yeol decided not to conduct doorstepping (brief Q&A on the way to work) starting from the 21st, as he began commuting to the Yongsan Presidential Office.

The Presidential Office spokesperson's office announced through a press release on the same day, "The Presidential Office has decided to suspend doorstepping as of November 21."

They explained the reason for stopping doorstepping, stating, "We judged that it cannot continue without establishing fundamental measures to prevent recurrence in relation to the recent unfortunate incident."

The spokesperson's office added, "Doorstepping was established for open communication with the public," and "If a method that can properly uphold that purpose is prepared, we will consider resuming it."

The day before, the Presidential Office installed an unannounced wooden plywood barrier in the lobby on the first floor of the building for the press corps. As a result, reporters can no longer see the individuals entering and exiting through the main gate of the Presidential Office. In the future, a wall made of opaque 'security glass' will be erected where the wooden plywood barrier is installed to divide the space.

President Yoon had no official schedule on the same day except for internal regular meetings such as the senior secretaries meeting at the Presidential Office in the morning and the weekly meeting with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, but unlike usual, he did not meet with reporters and headed straight to his office.

The unfortunate incident mentioned by the Presidential Office is interpreted as the public verbal confrontation that occurred on the 18th between a reporter from Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) and a secretary from the Presidential Office.

During the doorstepping, President Yoon referred to MBC's report on 'private remarks' that surfaced during his New York visit as 'malicious fake news' and then headed to his office. An MBC reporter asked a follow-up question, "What do you mean by malicious?"

A secretary from the Presidential Office watching the doorstepping criticized the MBC reporter's questioning attitude, leading to a public verbal confrontation lasting about three minutes between the two.

However, the Presidential Office stated that the installation of the barrier is unrelated to the confrontation between the two. A Presidential Office official explained to reporters the day before, "There are parts of the President's non-public schedule that require confidentiality in diplomatic and various other fields," and "There are security reasons for protection."

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