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South Korea’s new president has suspended his unusual morning Q &A sessions with journalists after squabbling with a broadcaster over its coverage of his remarks caught on a hot mic in the United States.
Since taking office in May, Yoon had regularly received questions from reporters at the lobby of the presidential building on the way to his work in the morning. The so-called “door-stepping” sessions were highly unusual in South Korea, where many of Yoon’s predecessors faced criticism that they shunned meetings with journalists to avoid sensitive questions.
Yoon, a conservative former top prosecutor, had promised during his presidential election to improve communication with the public. He even relocated the presidential office to the current Defense Ministry compound by abandoning the previous mountainside Blue House, whose structure and location he said contributed to past leaders being cut off from the public and wielding “imperial power.”
But on Monday, his office said in a statement that “a recent unsavory incident” has led it to have determined the Q &A session cannot be maintained.
