South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol gave a disaster-class in diplomacy Wednesday when a hot mic caught him calling U.S. lawmakers “idiots.” Yoon made the comment after meeting with President Joe Biden at the Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment Conference in New York City, where Biden committed $6 billion from the U.S. to support the public health campaign. The funding, which requires congressional sign-off, would go toward tackling global health issues including AIDS and malaria. “It would be so humiliating for Biden if these idiots don’t pass it in Congress,” Yoon was heard saying to aides as they departed the event. Yoon’s spokesperson later said that he didn’t actually say “Biden,” instead using a similar sounding Korean word, claiming that he was referring to South Korea’s parliament instead of the U.S. Congress.
