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| President Moon Jae-in and President Joe Biden hold a one-on-one meeting over lunch in Washington, Friday, as seen in this photo captured from Biden's Twitter account. Maryland crab cakes were served as the main course, according to Moon's office. Capture from Twitter, Yonhap |
President Moon Jae-in's summit with President Joe Biden in Washington, Friday, and the meetings surrounding their one-on-one talks presented a contrast from those held about a month ago between the leaders of the United States and Japan, according to officials.
The most noteworthy differences were the length of the summit and associated meetings, and the lunch menu.
Moon and Biden held 171 minutes of one-on-one, small group and expanded meetings; about 20 minutes longer than the U,S, president's April 16 get together with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
The Moon-Biden meetings continued about one hour longer than scheduled, and the South Korean leader stayed at the White House for five hours and 40 minutes in total.
The luncheon scene was also somewhat different.
In the one-on-one meeting held for 37 minutes over lunch, Maryland crab cakes were served as the main course, according to Chung Man-ho, Moon's senior secretary for public communications.
"The U.S. side prepared Maryland crab cakes as the main lunch meal in consideration of President Moon's preference for seafood, and President Biden also ate the same option," Chung said.
It is believed that the U.S. side may have given careful consideration to the summit lunch menu because crab cakes are a famous dish among Americans, and Moon's dietary preference was taken into account.
In contrast, burgers were served during the 20-minute, one-on-one meeting between Biden and Suga. The two leaders were seen in a photo sitting at either end of a two-meter-long rectangular table, and Suga didn't touch his food. The lunch between Moon and Biden was about 17 minutes longer than that with Suga.
In addition, Moon and Biden met without wearing a mask, whereas the U.S. president wore a double mask as an extra precaution against COVID-19 during his meeting with Suga last month.
On May 13, the U.S. authorities issued a guideline saying fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a face mask in most situations. Moon and Biden are both vaccinated.
"I am happy to have had a meeting with President Biden, but I am really happy to have had ― for the first time ― a meeting without wearing a mask," Moon said about his meeting with the U.S. leader. (Yonhap)
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