Lawmakers extend the invitations as an honor to allies. It’s a tradition that congressional researchers say dates back to 1874, starting with King Kalakaua of Hawaii, which was then a sovereign kingdom and not a state. Yoon’s address marked roughly the 120th time that the House and Senate have met jointly to hear from a foreign leader. McCarthy pointed out features in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall as they walked to a meeting with other congressional leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy met with Yoon at the Capitol before the joint meeting of Congress. Rep Michael McCaul, a Republican from Texas, received high-fives from his colleagues when Yoon mentioned a Samsung semiconductor plant in Austin. Individual lawmakers stood, smiled and applauded when Yoon referenced Korean companies with operations in their home states.

Lawmakers roared with approval when the South Korean leader closed with, “God bless our alliance.” They flocked to him afterward on the House floor, pressing him to sign their written copies of his address. Yoon praised the U.S.-South Korea security partnership since the Korean War seven decades ago as “the linchpin safeguarding our freedom, peace and prosperity.” Yoon also cited U.S.-Korean high-tech trade ties creating thousands of jobs in the United States. WASHINGTON (AP) - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol urged ever more strengthening of the U.S.-led security alliance against nuclear-armed North Korea on Thursday, drawing cheers from Congress as he saluted the “great American heroes” who helped preserve his country’s democracy in the Korean War.ĭemocratic and Republicans lawmakers rose to their feet again and again to applaud during Yoon’s address to a joint meeting of the House and Senate, in a speech that stressed security cooperation at a time of increased tension with both North Korea and China.

Prosperity by Alexis Hall