South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has put himself at odds with his country's media by suspending his daily question and answer sessions with reporters.

Yoon's office barred reporters of South Korean broadcaster MBC from boarding the presidential plane when he set off on his Southeast Asia tour this month.

The move was a response to an MBC report that Yoon used vulgar language when he referred to US lawmakers during his trip to New York in September.

Yoon called the story "fake news" on Friday. Shortly after, one of his aides got into a shouting match with an MBC reporter.

The presidential office told the media on Monday that the routine question and answer sessions by reporters called doorstepping would be suspended. The face-to-face morning sessions have been a staple of Yoon's since he took office.

The Journalists Association of Korea issued a statement on Monday that called the suspension of the sessions "an intense retaliation against journalism with opposing opinions." The association suggested Yoon was scapegoating MBC to "tame the news media as a whole."

Yoon's administration has also been nervous about media coverage of last month's Halloween crowd crush in Seoul. Some have blamed the administration for the deadly disaster.