Starmer mistakes South Korean interpreter for president (Video)

The UK PM greeted the wrong man at the G7 summit in Canada, while Lee Jae-myung stood behind him.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer appears to have mistaken an interpreter with the South Korean delegation at the G7 summit for the country’s president.

The mix-up took place during a photo opportunity at the entrance to the summit venue in Canada. A video from the event shows Starmer confidently shaking the man’s hand and smiling, while South Korean President Lee Jae-myung stood behind him waiting to be acknowledged.

Starmer held the interpreter’s hand for several seconds before the mistake became apparent as President Lee stepped forward. The two leaders eventually greeted each other but then apparently had another moment of confusion as to where to stand for the photo. South Korea, along with Australia and India, participated as guests of the event.

London has denied claims of an embarrassing diplomatic mistake.

Keir Starmer mistakenly shakes hands with a Korean interpreter instead of the President of South Korea (2025) pic.twitter.com/OYDjij1aJ1

— insane moments in british politics (@PoliticsMoments) June 18, 2025

The day before, Starmer had to kneel in front of US President Donald Trump to frantically trying to gather up trade papers that hd been dropped by the American leader.

The agenda for the 51st G7 summit included support for Ukraine, the Middle East, sanctions, AI and energy security.

During the summit, Trump had claimed that kicking Russia out of the group was a big mistake and suggested that Moscow’s presence in the G8, as it was known, could have helped prevent the Ukraine conflict.

The Kremlin has argued that the G7 has “lost its relevance” and no longer reflects global economic dynamics.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev applauded Trump’s criticism of the group and his decision to leave the event early, but stressed that the G7 is a “dead club.” Writing on X, he claimed that its members had already looked like “zombies” over a decade ago.