WASHINGTON – From discussing nuclear war to belting out a beloved hit: South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s White House visit ended on a high note when he sang Don McLean’s American Pie to great applause.

Mr Yoon is on a six-day state visit to Washington, where he discussed with United States President Joe Biden on Wednesday “the end” of any North Korean regime that used nuclear weapons against the allies.

But the two leaders had more cheerful topics on the agenda at the White House state dinner in Mr Yoon’s honour later that day, with the South Korean leader – who is known at home to be something of a karaoke buff – sharing his love of American music.

“We know this is one of your favourite songs, American Pie,” Mr Biden said to Mr Yoon, having pulled him up onto the stage at the end of the evening to listen to singers performing the classic.

“Yes, that’s true,” the 62-year-old Mr Yoon admitted, saying that he has loved the Don McLean song, released in 1971, since he was at school.

“We want to hear you sing it,” said Mr Biden.

“It’s been a while but...,” Mr Yoon responded, offering only token resistance as he took the microphone.

He belted out the first few lines of the song a capella, triggering rapturous applause from the crowd and delighting Mr Biden and the First Lady, Dr Jill Biden.

“The next state dinner we’re going to have, you’re looking at the entertainment,” Mr Biden told the crowd, referring to Mr Yoon.

Then he turned to the South Korean President and said: “I had no damn idea you could sing.”

Mr Biden told Mr Yoon that McLean could not be at the White House to join them but had sent a signed guitar, which the US President gifted to the South Korean leader.

“Yoon literally tore up the stage and White House!” one Twitter user wrote in Korean in reply to a video of the President singing.

“Mr Yoon has revealed his hidden singing talent,” another commenter wrote, also in Korean, resharing the video.

It is not Mr Yoon’s first time singing in public.

On the campaign trail in 2021, he appeared on the famous South Korean TV show All The Butlers, wowing its celebrity hosts with a sparkling rendition of the K-pop ballad No One Else by Lee Seung-chul. AFP