In Biden Welcome Dinner, 'Two-Shot' Draws Attention... Lee Jun-seok & Park Ji-hyun, Lee Jae-yong & Yoon Ho-jung at 'One Table'

On the afternoon of the 21st, Lee Jun-seok, the leader of the People Power Party, and Park Ji-hyun, the co-chair of the Emergency Response Committee of the Democratic Party, attended the welcome dinner for U.S. President Joe Biden held at the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] A rare scene at U.S. President Joe Biden's welcome dinner drew attention.

On the 21st, President Yoon Suk-yeol and President Biden held a welcome dinner at the nearby National Museum of Korea after concluding the Korea-U.S. summit at the Yongsan Presidential Office building in Seoul.

Attending the dinner were the two presidents, National Assembly Speaker Park Byeong-seug, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho, Foreign Minister Park Jin, former transition committee chairman Ahn Cheol-soo, and U.S. Forces Korea Commander Paul LaCamera. They sat together at a round head table.

Leaders from the business sector also attended in large numbers. Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong of Samsung Electronics, Chairman Chung Eui-sun of Hyundai Motor Group, Chairman Koo Kwang-mo of LG Group, Chairman Shin Dong-bin of Lotte Group, President Kim Dong-kwan of Hanwha Solutions, President Jung Ki-sun of HD Hyundai, and Chairman Ryu Jin of defense company Poongsan gathered in one place.

Also present were economic organization heads including Chairman Choi Tae-won of SK Group and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Honorary Chairman Huh Chang-soo of GS and the Federation of Korean Industries, Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik of CJ Group and the Korea Employers Federation, Chairman Koo Ja-yeol of the Korea International Trade Association, Chairman Kim Ki-moon of the Korea Federation of SMEs, and Chairman Choi Jin-sik of the Korea Association of Mid-sized Enterprises.

On the afternoon of the 21st, Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics, and Yoon Ho-jung, Co-Chairman of the Democratic Party's Emergency Committee, attended the welcome dinner for U.S. President Joe Biden held at the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Leaders of both ruling and opposition parties were also invited side by side. Vice Chairman Lee sat at the same table with Yoon Ho-jung, co-chairman of the Democratic Party's Emergency Response Committee, and Kim Dae-gi, Chief of Staff to the President.

Notably, at the same table as Chairman Choi were Lee Jun-seok, leader of the People Power Party, and Park Ji-hyun, co-chairwoman of the Democratic Party's Emergency Response Committee, drawing attention. Until now, Lee and Park, as young leaders of the ruling and opposition parties respectively, had clashed over issues such as the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the subway protests by the National Solidarity for the Elimination of Discrimination against the Disabled (Jeonjangyeon).

Recently, Park also targeted Lee over allegations of sexual bribery, leading to a confrontation. Park urged swift disciplinary action, calling it "a serious matter warranting resignation from the leadership position," while Lee denied it as "one-sided false statements from a fraud suspect."

On the 21st, President Yoon Suk-yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden are toasting at the welcome dinner held at the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, President Yoon emphasized in his toast at the dinner, "The Korea-U.S. alliance, forged through blood, is a strong pillar for achieving growth and prosperity based on liberal democracy and market economy."

He also quoted Irish poet William Butler Yeats, saying, "Think about where human glory begins and ends. My glory was in having great friends," emphasizing that "Korea and the U.S. are each other's great friends." Yeats is known to be a favorite poet of Biden.

In response, President Biden said, "We had a very productive meeting," adding, "But more importantly, we had the opportunity to get to know each other personally, sharing many stories from the start and learning a lot early on." He also expressed gratitude for the Yeats poem citation, which is one of his favorites.