The state visit took a funny turn when the President of South Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol, got excited to sing at the instigation of the President of the United States, Joe Biden.
President of South Korea Yoon Suk-yeol showed off his throwing skills at a White House dinner on Wednesday.
President of the United States Joe Biden had heard that Suk-yeol’s favorite song is American Pie, and he started urging his fellow president to sing it.
After laughing for a while, Suk-yeol got serious and grabbed the mic. The opening notes of the iconic American Pie echoed through the air with an interpretation that a professional politician certainly doesn’t need to be ashamed of. The audience burst into wild applause.
Later, Biden presented Suk-yeol with a guitar, to which the song’s creator Don McLean has scratched his autograph.
McLean’s song is considered a folk-rock classic, which includes, among other things Madonna has done a cover version. Also Hector has made a Finnish translation of the song under the name Suomi-neito.
American Pie has several references to social themes in the post-World War II United States. Perhaps its most famous words “the day the music died” refer to the plane crash in which the musicians Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens passed away in 1959.
Read more about the song: Bye bye, miss American Pie – this is how Don McLean’s classic album was born
A new nuclear weapons agreement was born during the state visit
Earlier in the day, during the state visit, the presidents had discussed, among other things, North Korea, trade relations and the war in Ukraine.
The countries also agreed on a new nuclear weapons treaty. The United States promised to send its nuclear-armed submarines to South Korea and to involve South Korea in nuclear weapons planning.
South Korea, on the other hand, commits not to develop its own nuclear weapons.