South Korean president delights, surprises White House with rendition of rock anthem 'American Pie'
South Korean President Suk Yeol surprised everyone at the White House state dinner Wednesday night after President Joe Biden asked him to sing 'American Pie.'
The two leaders were joined at the glamorous affair, attended by stars like Angelina Jolie and Olympic gold medalist snowboarder Chloe Kim.
After watching several musical performances, Biden told the crowd a story about how his sons would sing Don McLean's 1971 hit "American Pie" when driving to school.
"We know this is one of your favorite songs," he told Yoon, who drew cheers from the crowd as he launched into the classic lyrics.
Yoon received a standing ovation for his efforts before Biden presented him with a guitar signed by McLean.
McLean joked on Thursday that he was planning to sing his iconic "American Pie" with the South Korean president.
"I intend to go over to South Korea next year and sing it with the president, so that's probably going to be another news story," McLean joked on Thursday. "He wanted me at the White House to sing the song, but I'm in Australia right now on tour."
McLean also spoke about the lasting legacy of the song, which at 8 minutes and 37 seconds held the record for the longest song to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart, until Taylor Swift re-released her hit "All Too Well" in 2021.
Of "American Pie," McLean said: "It has a melody which is something that is pretty hard to find these days, and that's just the opening part of the song -- I mean, the song is eight and a half minutes, and it's a rock and roll song."
"I get a kick out of the fact that the song is still alive," he added. "Musicians are dealing with a thing called alchemy, we deal in magic, and some of the things that we do fall on their face, and others if we're very fortunate are magical and live forever."
At the Wednesday bilateral meeting, the two leaders announced a key new agreement to deter North Korean aggression, including a new US commitment to deploy a nuclear-armed submarine in South Korea for the first time since the early 1980s.
Yoon also addressed Congress in a speech on Thursday, slamming North Korea over its human rights violations and condemning the war in Ukraine.