President Yoon Suk-yeol has declared war on the free press in South Korea with his arbitrary, vindictive attacks against one of the country’s largest broadcasters, ostensibly for the sin of airing unflattering footage of him.

No democratically elected president had ever banned major media from traveling with them before Yoon kicked MBC off South Korea’s air force one as revenge for airing unedited footage of the president appearing to call U.S. lawmakers “bastards” in September shortly after speaking with President Joe Biden.

South Korea’s second-largest media service was thus unable to travel with other press aboard the presidential