The presidential motorcade is parked as President Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak have dinner at Woo Lae Oak, a Korean restaurant, in Vienna, Va.
****
President Obama issued a statement Wednesday saluting the passage, by both the House and Senate, of trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama, as well as a measure designed to help American workers who subsequently lose their jobs:
“The landmark trade agreements and assistance for American workers that passed tonight are a major win for American workers and businesses. I’ve fought to make sure that these trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama deliver the best possible deal for our country, and I’ve insisted that we do more to help American workers who have been affected by global competition. Tonight’s vote, with bipartisan support, will significantly boost exports that bear the proud label “Made in America,” support tens of thousands of good-paying American jobs and protect labor rights, the environment and intellectual property. American automakers, farmers, ranchers and manufacturers, including many small businesses, will be able to compete and win in new markets. I look forward to signing these agreements, which will help achieve my goal of doubling American exports and keeping America competitive in the 21st century.”
****
2009: The President displays his skills in the Korean martial art of taekwondo at the presidential office in Seoul. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak gave him a taekwondo uniform and black belt as a gift during his visit to the office for summit talks.
The Obama Diary 
I got an invite for his State Arrival Ceremony tomorrow morning. Sadly, I have class. 😦
President Lee seems like a cool person. PBO is always mentioning him when he speaks about teachers being “nation builders.”
Awesome collegekay. Sad that you can’t go, but I guess education must come first if we don’t want to turn out like teabaggers. 😉
May I ask how you were able to get an invite for the State Arrival Ceremony? Did you have to register at the White House or something like that? If the question is too intrusive, then please don’t mind me. 🙂
Are you following me on twitter? I can tell you there in DM.
That is so awesome collegekay as UT has stated. Keep up the great work with your studies. We do understand how attending those classes are #1. You know we all are proud of you and have adopted you here in the TOD family. Keep up your studies. HZ
collegekay Congrats, education, Education, education will take as far as you can go, and no body wiil
take that away from you , Education has always been the #1 issue in our families.
Yeah collegekay I follow you on twitter. I’ll look for your DM. My twitter handle is @utaustinliberal.
Have you see photos or videos of President Lee when he is interacting with President Obama? Prez Lee is practically happy, very wide smile, and acting as giddy as you would be if you were seeing a long-lost friend after a long time of absence. Look through the photos and you will see what i mean
when around President Obama, President Lee acts in a ecstatic way like the Italian actor Roberto Benin (spelling) did when President Clinton was around – almost like he is about to lift PBO.
Bottom line is that President Obama and President Lee appear to really like and respect each other and there is nothing phony about it. I like observing their interaction, really cool
Hi globalcitizenlinda. I concur with you on this point. It is so refreshing to see how so many of the world leaders seem to sincerely enjoy being in the company of our wonderful leader, President Barack Obama. It makes my heart sing with joy. I think that you hit the nail on the head, it is the respect that they seem to have for each other.
We are so blessed to be living during this Presidency of this wonderful leader. I love the entire time that we are currently living in because so many of our beautiful young people are so involved and are great participates. It makes my heart sing with a joyful song.
Thank you, Mr. President, and we will Press On for you and Joe for 2012 with hardwork and grace. HZ
Who is donating and bankrolling Cain’s campaign? This whole Cain thing is strange…
Hiya Vero. Linda had a very insightful article about the close ties between Cain and the Koch Brothers on the “now, now don’t laugh” thread. It’s worth looking into. Who knows; they may be contributing to his campaign.
Why Herman Cain Is The Koch Brothers’ Favorite Presidential Candidate
Cain held an official position in the Koch-funded group Americans for Prosperity: Dating back to 2005, Cain led Americans for Prosperity’s new “Prosperity Expansion Project.”
– Cain’s campaign manager is the former president of Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity Wisconsin chapter: Prior to becoming Cain’s campaign manager and chief of staff, Mark Block served as the president of Americans for Prosperity’s Wisconsin chapter.
– Cain attended the Koch Brothers’ private biannual meeting in Palm Springs
– Cain traveled to Wisconsin in support of the Koch-funded union-busting bill:
– Cain headlined a Koch-funded anti-climate rally in New York: As other presidential candidates focused on glad-handing with voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, Cain took time out in June to travel to New York and headline a Koch-backed anti-climate rally.
– Cain was a featured speaker at the Koch-funded RightOnline conference: Cain has been a featured speaker at RightOnline, the Koch-backed conservative conference, for the past two years.
The 999 Plan:
Not only would Koch Industries reap massive benefits, but the Koch Brothers themselves — already tied for the fourth richest people in America — would personally see their tax rates fall from approximately 28 percent to around 11 percent.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/10/07/335968/herman-cain-koch-brothers/
Interesting…his whole campaign is fishy.
Oh dear…thanks UT for giving us the scoop on Mr. KochCain. That’s why KochCain is bad for your body and brain…
I have heard two things in the last couple of weeks concerning Cain thqt are strange. One was the your Black guy against our Black guy meme from the GOPs. The other is similar with Romney as the Presidential candidate and Cain as the VP candidate saying Black people will have a choice this way. Robbing the Black vote is what I am thinking as the strategy.
That strategy won’t work. Black people for the most part do NOT vote based on race – despite what the media or others want to believe. In fact I would say that blacks are among the the most nuanced and politically savvy voters out there considering they only comprise 12-13% of the population. If Black people were acting like those fools on OWS, we would still be in the back of the bus right now.
So true. The Republicans made the same foolish mistake when they put Palin in the McCain VP spot, with the misguided belief that women would vote for ANY woman. The problem with the GOP is that they think everybody is as biased as they are. Blacks generally know the law, politics and the bible. They have to.
Brilliant comments.
The Choch Brothers who alse, unless he has a lot’s of money himself.
And HI back atcha!
Oops! That was supposed to be a reply to you, utaustin. Well, hi to everyone!
What’s with the Christmas lights in October?!
it’s Christmas in Korea It’s tradition.
oops my bad!! Thanks for schooling me on this mel 🙂 🙂
Just wanted to yell out a hello to our wonderful Sue. Hope recovering nicely, Sue. Keeping you in my thoughts. Hugs coming to you.HZ
I live near that restaurant, but I’ve never eaten there. I guess I need to check it out. You can tell from the picture that it’s been raining here all evening. It’s a pretty dreary night to be out, but I hope they enjoyed their meal. The ride back to the White House is probably about a half hour (there’s a lot of construction on a subway extension in that area right now.)
The anti-Administration “line” this week especially in the Washington Post, is that the President is “lonely” and “isolated”–that he “doesn’t enjoy” interacting with the public. He doesn’t “spend a lot of time on rope lines”. Yet everytime I turn around the President or the First Lady is at a school, rec center, shelter, restaurant or back yard somewhere in this area–Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax or Falls Church. I was born in DC, and never worked anywhere except for the government, and I have NEVER witnessed a President or First Lady who have been so involved with the local community. When they aren’t out and about, they are inviting people to the White House. The First Lady had a bunch of kids on the White House lawn yesterday. In fact, rather than avoiding these opportunities, they both seem to be happiest when they are with ordinary people.
It’s distressing that they tell so many Lies about the First Family.
Thanks, Virginia. It’s nice to hear from someone who lives in the area and can tell the truth that you have never seen another First Couple so involved with the people. Actually, the fools in the msm know this too. they are just mad that POTUS and FLOTUS don’t attend their parties and don’t invite them to the WH.
Here is the scoop TOD Family the Beltway has been so use to the gotcha parties(i.e Who is dating Who and Who left with Who way of life) that having a True Family Values President and First Lady just Frost the HELL OUT OF THEM.We all know that the most important why to have power in the Beltway is what party list you are on and who pays the most to keep gossip out of the headlines.These are the reasons that the Media are so much against this President and the way He runs Washington.If you notice the usual crooks always write pieces in the news with a page of unnamed sources,because they don’t have the party circuit to hang out and get people liquored up and loose lips tell tales.The Chuck Todds and Jake Tappers of the press corp try as they might to ask gotcha questions at news conferences and get their behinds handed to them by Our President. So have no fear just #PRESSON YES WE CAN DO IT AGAIN WITH 4 MORE FOR 44