Bill Gates 'disrespects' South Korean president with casual handshake

Bill Gates has been accused of disrespecting Park Geun-hye, the South Korean president, after being pictured shaking hands with her, with one hand in his pocket.

The picture of the meet-and-greet between the Microsoft founder and Ms Park on Monday was front page news across the country. Some newspapers cropped out the offending pocketed hand, but most chose to highlight it.

"Cultural difference, or an act of disrespect?" the JoongAng Ilbo wrote in the accompanying caption.

"Disrespectful handshake? Casual handshake?" the Dong-A Ilbo asked.

While the presidential Blue House declined to comment, social networking sites were clogged with opinion.

"Even considering the cultural difference, there is an appropriate manner for certain occasions ... how can he put his hand in his pocket when meeting a leader of the state?" tweeted @msryu67.

Some news portals posted montages of Mr Gates shaking hands with other world leaders, which showed that he has some form when it comes to informal greetings.

In a 2008 meeting with Ms Park's predecessor Lee Myung-Bak, Gates also kept one hand pocketed, although a 2001 picture with then-President Kim Dae-Jung showed him adopting a more respectful, two-handed shake.

"Gates is a casual man who's not bound by customs so he shakes hands in this manner even when meeting heads of international organisations or top political figures," Dong-A Ilbo quoted an unnamed friend of his in Seoul as saying.

Some Koreans suggested the media criticism was misplaced.

"Please, people ... don't think your Confucian mindset is a universal norm elsewhere in the world," tweeted @itanomaly.

Mr Gates was in South Korea as chairman of the nuclear start-up TerraPower, promoting its project to develop a next-generation nuclear reactor.

Ms Park, meanwhile, was seeking the Microsoft founder's advice on her plans to build a "creative economy".

OPINION SAMPLES :

1. Diplomacy is not just for diplomats it is also a form of courtesy.
He is a very rich philanthropist he should be educated in the common cultural courtesies of the people he is visiting.  And true he is not a official representative of the USA but if he wants to not be seen as what we have been called for years as an ugly American he would be better served and better educated in the ways of the rest of the world.   

2. Even in a Western context, Gates' posture and hand-in-pocket would be considered casual and not quite suited to the occasion. So would his pronounced slouch. Doesn't anyone remember the days when Western mothers/aunts/teachers would forever be telling boys to stand up straight and not stand or walk with hands in pockets? They were always considered loutish habits.

But...

1. Gates probably is a tad Aspergers. Cut him some slack. He almost certainly was not delivering an insult. He has also been raised in a Western world and a particular subculture in which the old manners are lightly regarded if known at all.

2. What is it about Asian and Middle Eastern cultures and their taboos? Remember when the entire Middle East would go apeshit because some American put his feet up and showed the sole of his shoe? Fine, they should have attended Arab taboo training and known better. But still, it's just the sole of a shoe. No Westerner could really internalize the idea  that such a harmless thing is insulting. More to the point, while we also have our taboos, no one ever goes to such extremes in reacting to them. Some dignitary could fart or pick his nose at our dinner tables. Personally I think it obvious and rational that these should be considered more disgusting than the harmless, relatively clean and non-smelling sole of a business shoe. But if some other culture thinks them weird Western taboos, so be it. What we don't do is have a public freakout or even threaten to kill people when our taboos are violated.