"Practiced for 10 Hours, Sang a Few Verses"… State Dinner Divides Ruling and Opposition Parties

The ruling and opposition parties offered conflicting interpretations of the outcomes of the South Korea-U.S. summit, and they also disagreed over the state banquet held the previous day. Regarding President Yoon Suk-yeol singing the American song "American Pie" at the banquet, the opposition did not highly praise it, calling it a "pre-planned event," while the ruling party said it showed "softness and sensibility."

On the 28th, Jeon Jae-su, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, said on CBS's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show,' "He sang like that and received a standing ovation," adding, "If that level of standing ovation is given, if I had done it, I probably would have fainted."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He claimed it was a "planned performance" by President Yoon. He said, "(The singer who sang the song) Don McLean. Right after the song ended, Don McLean signed and gave a guitar as a gift. If it were an unprepared song, he couldn't have signed and given the guitar." He added, "To help our listeners understand, everything was planned and programmed as it was, and he probably practiced that song for about 10 hours just to sing it briefly."

Jeong Seong-ho, also a Democratic Party member, criticized on KBS's 'Choi Kyung-young's Strong Current Affairs,' saying, "It seems like a lot of preparation and effort was made, but other than singing 'American Pie' at the state banquet, there was nothing special," and added, "It’s like paying cash and only receiving an unbelievable promissory note."

On the other hand, Seong Il-jong, a member of the People Power Party, said on CBS radio, "The leaders of South Korea and the U.S. gathered and gently eased the hearts of both nations’ people through music, completely changing the atmosphere," and positively evaluated, "This softness and sensibility of the president played a big role in opening the summit with great dignity."

On the same day, Tae Young-ho, a senior member of the People Power Party, said at the party’s floor meeting, "President Yoon singing 'American Pie,' a pop song loved by the late Biden’s son, moved President Biden, and all of America must have been touched, thinking he is truly the president of the K-pop homeland," giving a positive evaluation.

The main reason the opposition criticizes President Yoon’s visit to the U.S. as lacking substance is that South Korea gained nothing from the Semiconductor Act, Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and other issues. Jeong said, "The important thing is ultimately the economic issues," and pointed out, "Regarding the Semiconductor Act or the Inflation Reduction Act, none of the concerns we had seem to have been addressed at all." He also said about the Washington Declaration, "I don’t really understand what is particularly different from the past in the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) that came out of the Washington Declaration."

Former National Intelligence Service Director Park Ji-won also gave a score of 60 for security but 0 for the economy on YTN's 'News King Park Ji-hoon,' evaluating, "He only did what the U.S. wanted." Park pointed out China’s protests against the South Korea-U.S. summit and expressed concern, saying, "Through visits to the U.S. and Japan, we did what the U.S. and Japan wanted, but we had to bear losses such as economic retaliation from China and Russia."

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