Moon's 'Crab Cake' and Japan's Suga's 'Hamburger'... Different Expressions of Affection

On the 21st (local time), President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Joe Biden held a private meeting. Photo by President Biden's social media (SNS)

[Asia Economy Reporter Seoyoung Kwon] Attention was drawn to the lunch menu during the summit between President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Joe Biden.

On the 21st (local time), the Blue House announced that President Moon Jae-in, who is visiting the United States, held a private meeting with President Joe Biden. Jeong Man-ho, the Blue House Chief of Public Communication, stated in a briefing that "During the 37-minute private meeting held alongside lunch, the U.S. side prepared a menu featuring Maryland crab cakes as the main dish, considering President Moon's preference for seafood," adding, "President Biden also had the same menu."

President Biden posted a photo on his social media showing the two leaders smiling while having the private meeting over lunch. Some interpreted this as a gesture of goodwill from the U.S. side in this summit. The fact that the lunch menu was chosen considering President Moon's taste and that crab cakes are a famous American dish were cited as reasons.

After this was revealed, the meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and President Biden on the 16th of last month was recalled. At that time, the two leaders wore "double masks" during the meeting, and the lunch menu was prepared as hamburgers. The Suga administration later stated that Prime Minister Suga was so focused on the conversation that he "did not touch the hamburger at all."

Meanwhile, it was also noted that President Moon and President Biden held the meeting in a relaxed atmosphere without masks. Following U.S. guidelines that vaccinated individuals do not need to wear masks, the two leaders were seen shaking hands and continuing their conversation without masks.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.