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There was a switch in style for the changing of the guard music outside Buckingham Palace
By Sean Coughlan
Royal correspondent
The changing of the guard outside Buckingham Palace had an unexpected change of style on Wednesday - when the military band switched to K-pop.
Honouring the South Korean state visit, the band surprised tourists with a rendition of Gangnam Style by the group Psy and Ddu-du, Ddu-du by Blackpink.
It follows the state banquet on Tuesday night, when King Charles name-checked K-pop stars such as Blackpink and BTS.
Although he admitted a personal lack of "what might be called Gangnam Style".
On Wednesday morning, tourists at the gates of Buckingham Palace, waiting to see the traditional changing over of the guards on duty, had something very different from military medleys, when the band launched into Korean pop songs.
There had been a full ceremonial welcome for South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday - greeted by the King, Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales, before taking part in a carriage procession along the Mall.
In the evening, the president was given the full grandeur of a state banquet, held in the Buckingham Palace ballroom, with 170 guests including the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron as well the Royal Family and South Korean dignitaries.
But the King's speech had highlighted the global reach of South Korean popular culture and its "remarkable ability to captivate imaginations".
State visits are a mix of serious diplomacy as well as pageantry - and the focus of the South Korean visit is on boosting trade links and military partnerships.
South Korea's President Yoon will be meeting Mr Sunak to sign a "Downing Street Accord", with plans for a new trade deal.
Technology and green energy will be among the areas of business co-operation.
There are plans for a stronger approach to enforcing sanctions against North Korea, and preventing its "illegal weapons programme", with joint sea patrols between the South Korean navy and the UK's Royal Navy.
"Long term, global partnerships are vital to our prosperity and security," Mr Sunak said.
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