South Korea President Korea Yoon Suk Yeol during a joint news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House on Wednesday, April 26, 2023. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post)
South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol is slated on Thursday to address a joint meeting of Congress, becoming the third world leader to do so since President Biden took office.
Yoon’s address to Congress is part of a formal state visit marking the 70-year anniversary of the alliance between the United States and South Korea. The six-day trip has so far included a visit to the Korean War Memorial, a bilateral meeting at the White House and frequent declarations of the ironclad friendship between the two countries.
“It’s an unbreakable bond, forged in bravery and the sacrifice of our people, sanctified by the blood of American and Korean troops who fought and defended liberty,” Biden said Wednesday.
On Wednesday night, the Bidens hosted the Yoons at the White House for an elaborate state dinner — where Yoon surprised the crowd by singing one of his favorite songs, “American Pie.”
“The next state dinner we’re going to have — you’re looking at the entertainment,” a delighted Biden told Yoon afterward, presenting him with a guitar autographed by Don McLean. “I had no damn idea you could sing.”
Congressional leaders invited Yoon to address Congress in a letter sent earlier this month that was signed by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
“The relationship between the United States and the Republic of Korea is one of great importance and significance,” the leaders of the House and Senate wrote. “Your leadership has been instrumental in strengthening this partnership, and we believe the Joint Meeting would provide an ideal platform for you to share your vision for the future of the U.S.-Korea alliance and to highlight the progress that has been made in recent years.”
It has become a modern tradition for foreign leaders to address a joint meeting of Congress, if invited, during their formal state visits to the United States. In Biden’s time in office, there have been two such addresses — one by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and another by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last year during his surprise visit to Washington.
Zelenskyy also made a virtual address to an informal meeting of Congress last March, in the earliest weeks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, pleading with U.S. lawmakers for security assistance, as well as fighter jets and a “humanitarian no-fly zone” over Ukraine. In July, Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska also addressed an informal meeting of Congress, making a rare personal appeal as the wife of a foreign leader for the United States to provide Ukraine with more arms to counter the Russian invasion of her country.
Yoon, who took office last May with no previous political or foreign policy experience, last made headlines for remarks in the United States after he was caught on a hot mic last fall insulting Congress members as “idiots” who could be a potential embarrassment for Biden if they did not approve funding for global public health.
At the time, Yoon had just met with Biden at the Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment Conference in New York City. There, Biden had pledged $6 billion from the United States to the public health campaign, which fights AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria worldwide. The funding required congressional approval.
“It would be so humiliating for Biden if these idiots don’t pass it in Congress,” Yoon was overheard telling a group of aides as they left the event. Video of the exchange quickly went viral in South Korea. Yoon’s office denied that his remarks were targeted at the United States.
Congress ultimately approved the funding.
