\u2018I had no idea you could sing\u2019
\n WASHINGTON
\nFrom discussing nuclear war to belting out a beloved hit, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol\u2019s White House visit ended on a high note when he sang Don McLean\u2019s \u2018American Pie\u2019 to great applause.
\nYoon is on a six-day state visit to Washington, where he discussed with US President Joe Biden on Wednesday \u201cthe end\u201d of any North Korean regime that used nuclear weapons against the allies.
\nBut the two leaders had more cheerful topics on the agenda at the White House state dinner in Yoon\u2019s honour later that day, with the South Korean leader (who is known at home to be something of a karaoke buff) sharing his love of American music.
\n\u201cWe know this is one of your favourite songs, \u2018American Pie\u2019,\u201d Biden said to Yoon, having pulled him up onto the stage at the end of the evening to listen to singers perform the classic.
\n\u201cYes, that\u2019s true,\u201d the 62-year-old Yoon admitted, saying that he had loved the Don McLean song (released in 197) since he was at school.
\n\u201cWe want to hear you sing it,\u201d said Biden.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s been a while but \u2026\u201d Yoon responded, offering only token resistance as he took the microphone.
\nYoon belted out the first few lines of the song acapella, triggering rapturous applause from the crowd and delighting Biden and the First Lady.
\n\u201cThe next state dinner we\u2019re going to have, you\u2019re looking at the entertainment,\u201d Biden told the crowd, referring to Yoon.
\nThen he turned to the South Korean president and said: \u201cI had no damn idea you could sing.\u201d
\nBiden told Yoon that McLean could not be at the White House to join them but had sent a signed guitar, which the US president gifted to the South Korean leader.
\n\u201cYoon literally tore up the stage and White House!\u201d one Twitter user wrote in Korean in reply to a video of the president singing.
\n\u201cYoon has revealed his hidden singing talent,\u201d another commenter wrote, also in Korean, resharing the video.
\nIt is not Yoon\u2019s first time singing in public. On the campaign trail in 2021, he appeared on the famous South Korean TV show \u201cAll the Butlers\u201d, wowing its celebrity hosts with a sparkling rendition of the K-pop ballad \u201cNo one else\u201d by Lee Seung-chul.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2018I had no idea you could sing\u2019 WASHINGTON From discussing nuclear war to belting out a beloved hit, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol\u2019s White House visit ended on a high note when he sang Don McLean\u2019s \u2018American Pie\u2019 to great applause. Yoon is on a six-day state visit to Washington, where he discussed with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327953,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-327936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n