"Soft Power of Karaoke" President Yoon's Passionate Singing Draws Hot Reactions Overseas

Yoon Sings 'American Pie' at State Banquet
Video Spreads on SNS, Drawing Overseas Reactions
"White House Karaoke," "Nice Voice"

President Yoon Suk-yeol's enthusiastic rendition of Don McLean's "American Pie" at a state banquet has gone viral on social media, sparking a heated response from overseas netizens.

On the 26th (local time), at the state banquet held at the White House in Washington DC, President Yoon sang "American Pie" by Don McLean for about one minute. "American Pie" is known to be one of President Yoon's favorite songs from his school days.

[Photo by Nicola Smith, The Telegraph, captured from SNS]

BBC Seoul correspondent Jin Makenzi quoted the video of President Yoon singing "American Pie" on her SNS, commenting, "Good voice. This is exactly what karaoke practice can achieve."

Nicola Smith, the Asia correspondent for the UK Telegraph, also shared the related video on SNS, describing it as "(South) Korea's karaoke soft power."

[Image source=BBC Seoul correspondent 'Jin Mackenzie' Twitter]

Reactions from overseas Twitter users who watched the video were diverse.

One user praised President Yoon's singing skills, saying, "A heartwarming moment." Another netizen agreed, adding, "It feels like the White House has come alive again."

Many netizens also mentioned Korea's karaoke culture while watching President Yoon sing. They responded with comments such as "A Korean karaoke opened at the White House" and "Koreans really do love karaoke."