SEOUL, South Korea - The buzz in town today is this photograph of Microsoft founder Bill Gates' shaking hands with South Korea President Park Geun-hye.
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.
"Perhaps it was his all-American style but an open jacket with hand in pocket? That was way too casual. It was very regretful," said Chung Jin-suk, secretary general at the Korean National Assembly.
President Park's office has said nothing publicly about the incident and a spokesperson for Gates declined to comment.
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