When in Rome...
The wisdom of this adage seems to have escaped Bill Gates on a recent trip to South Korea. Gates was there promoting his TerraPower initiative, a mission to develop a next-generation nuclear reactor, safer than the ones currently in use.
However, while meeting with South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Monday, Gates may have committed a grievous cultural faux pas by shaking the premier's hand while his left hand was buried in his trouser pocket.
It's unclear what the wayward appendage was up to in there and we'd rather not speculate, but as ABC's Johee Cho explains, the damage is done:
"Gates, 57, might have not realized it Monday, but a one-hand shake in Korean culture — and also in Asia — is notably casual, done only when the other party is a good friend, of the same or younger age. Using one hand with the other tucked in the pants pocket is considered rude here, done when one is expressing superiority to the other."
The Atlantic Wire reports that South Koreans are so incensed at the perceived slight that the incident has become front-page news across the country, even as its neighbor to the north continues threatening nuclear war against the U.S. and its allies, including South Korea.
Gates has remained mum on the matter so far, but the office of the South Korean President has issued a statement in an apparent effort to allay tensions:
"Bill Gates took a similar pose for a picture when he met former President Lee Myung-Bak five years ago. Just think of it as an American style of greeting."
So there you have it. Bill Gates is making us all look bad in South Korea.
