South Korea's president is not the first foreign leader treated to carriage ride with British monarch

"President Yoon is the first foreign leader to ride a coach with the British monarch," reads Korean-language text on an image shared here on Facebook on November 23, 2023.

The image appears to show South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol sitting beside Britain's King Charles III in a carriage.

"This unprecedented gesture shows the UK thinks of South Korea as a vital ally."

The claim was shared after Yoon's state visit to the UK from November 21 to 23; the first state visit hosted by the king since his coronation in May.

Footage captured by AFP shows Yoon riding in a carriage with the king as it proceeded down the Mall in London to Buckingham Palace (archived link).

Image

Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured on November 24, 2023.

Identical claims were shared on Facebook here, here and here.

Yoon, however, is not the first foreign leader to ride in a carriage with the British monarch.

Ceremonial welcome

An explainer on the official website of Britain's royal family outlines how state visits are conducted (archived link).

It says: "The King and other Members of the Royal Family greet visitors with a ceremonial welcome, which usually takes place on Horse Guards Parade.

"The visiting party is invited to inspect a Guard of Honour before travelling back to the Palace in a carriage procession escorted by a large number of mounted soldiers from the Household Cavalry."

A keyword search on Google led to examples of the late Queen Elizabeth II travelling in carriage processions with foreign leaders who were visiting the UK, including here, here and here (archived links here, here and here).

Two South Korean heads of state -- former presidents Roh Moo-hyun and Park Geun-hye -- were also treated to carriage rides with the queen in their respective UK visits in December 2004 and November 2013, as seen here, here, here and here (archived links here, here, here and here).

Yoon is also not the first visiting leader to ride in a carriage with the monarch since Charles became king in September 2022.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa rode with the king in a carriage procession on November 22, 2022 -- the first time the monarch had hosted a foreign leader on a state visit since his ascension to the throne (archived link).