US senator Pete Ricketts greets South Korea’s President Yoon with ‘American Pie’ rendition on sidelines of Vilnius Summit

In Lithuania for the Nato summit, Republican Senator Pete Ricketts serenaded South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol with Yoon’s favourite ‘American pie’ song

Ricketts came up to Yoon and his wife in the old town of Vilnius, and shared his appreciation of Yoon’s speech to the US Congress on a state visit

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US Senator Pete Ricketts spotted Yoon and his wife Kim Keon-hee while they were taking a stroll through the old town of Vilnius after arriving in the Baltic state to attend the Nato summit. Photo: YNA/dpa

Published: 5:30pm, 11 Jul 2023Updated: 5:46pm, 11 Jul 2023

President Yoon Suk-yeol was in for a surprise when a US senator bumped into the South Korean leader in Lithuania and delivered an impromptu performance of the former’s favourite song, American Pie.

Pete Ricketts on Monday spotted Yoon and his wife Kim Keon-hee while they were taking a stroll through the old town of Vilnius after arriving in the Baltic state to attend the Nato summit.

Ricketts, who was dining at a nearby restaurant, came up to Yoon and appreciated a speech he made to the US Congress during his six-day state visit to Washington in April.

According to the president’s spokesperson, the Republican politician and his entourage then belted out Don McLean’s American Pie, a number Yoon crooned to a roaring standing ovation at a dinner hosted by US President Joe Biden that included Hollywood celebrities such as actress Angelina Jolie.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (second from right), alongside his wife Kim Keon-hee (right), is welcomed after arriving at Vilnius International Airport in the Lithuanian capital on July 10 for the Nato summit. Photo: EPA-EFE/YONHAP

Biden later gave his South Korean counterpart a guitar signed by McLean, who could not attend the event to mark the 70th anniversary of the Seoul-Washington ties. Yoon at the time said he thought his rendition of American Pie went quite well.