“BTS beat me to the White House, but I beat them to Capitol Hill.“
President Yoon Suk Yeol caused laughter in the hall with an “ad-lib” that was not in the pre-distributed English speech at a joint meeting of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
On April 27th (local time), President Yoon naturally mentioned K-POP at a joint meeting of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, saying, “Even if you didn’t know my name, you would have known BTS and BLACKPINK.” After President Yoon’s joke, the atmosphere in the hall became softer.
In his speech, President Yoon emphasized the solidarity of the Korea-U.S. alliance, which marks its 70th anniversary this year, and mentioned K-content, which is gaining huge popularity in the U.S., several times.
During the 43-minute speech, there were 56 rounds of applause, including 23 standing ovations. Some lawmakers cheered during standing ovations and showed positive responses.
President Yoon said “Culture is helping to further deepen our understanding and friendship. Nationality and language differences are no longer barriers” and cited the Academy Awards-winning Korean films “Minari” and “Parasite” as examples.
He continued, “Hollywood films ‘Top Gun’ and ‘The Avengers’ are loved by Koreans. I also love ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and ‘Mission Impossible’.” This content was also an ad-lib that was not in the original manuscript.
President Yoon added, “Together with the U.S., Korea will play the role as a ‘compass for freedom’. It will safeguard and broaden the freedom of citizens of the world.“
After the speech, President Yoon shook hands with lawmakers and stayed at the plenary session for a while. He signed his speech for lawmakers or took pictures with them.
Source: Maeil
