Angelia Jolie and son Maddox attending White House state dinner

Angelina Jolie and her son Maddox will be among 200 guests on Wednesday to join President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden at the White House for a state dinner honoring South Korea’s president.

A White House official confirmed to DailyMail.com that the actress and her oldest son will be attending.

Jolie, who is politically active, was at the White House in September 2021 to discuss the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act. During that trip, she also visited Capitol Hill to lobby Congress on the matter.

She returned to the White House in March 2022 to watch President Biden sign the reauthorization into law. She took her daughter Zahara to that event, where they met the president.

Jolie has long been active in political and international issues, especially women’s issues and speaks for refugees.

And she will be there to watch President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden host their administration’s second state dinner for South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife Kim Keon-hee on Wednesday.

Guests will don black tie attire to dance and dine under cherry blossoms in the East Room of the White House.

They will enjoy American food with a Korean twist.

The dinner will take place in the East Room of the White House, the largest of the formal rooms on the White House’s state floor.

The menu was designed by Executive Chef Edward Lee, a Korean-American chef known for infusing traditional American classics with Korean flavors.

“That was the first thing I was told — ice cream,” he said during a dinner preview Monday.

Ice cream is President Joe Biden’s favorite dessert.

Lee, who has appeared on Top Chef and owns restaurants in Washington DC and New York, created a dozen dishes for Jill Biden and her team to try and get to the final menu.

“I wanted to take some of my favorite American foods and just tinker with them a bit. And that’s how I cook in my restaurants too – just to add a little Korean touch. Again, it’s familiar yet unexpected, and it’s not traditional Korean food, but it just gives you a little touch of Korean flavors,” he said.

He said the first person he told he had been asked to be guest chef for that night was his mother, an immigrant from Korea.

“We have always felt tremendous gratitude towards the United States of America for the opportunities it has had, which I have been able to get. So to come full circle, to give back and to be able to do this was, you know, a very proud moment for me and also for my mother,” he said.

And as for the advice his mother gave him, “She just said don’t mess it up.”

A state visit is the highest diplomatic honor the US bestows on its closest allies. Biden’s first went to France last December and took place in a glass tent on the South Lawn. Wednesday night is the first state dinner at the White House.

The first lady and her staff worked with Fête, an events and design firm owned by Korean-American Jung Lee, to help create the theme and setting.

Jill Biden said during the preview of the event on Monday that the setting was to “show the harmony of our cultures and our intertwined people.”

When guests enter the East Room, they see scenic landscape designs featuring some of the most American symbols – American bison, the bald eagle, roses, stars – and Korean images – the Korean magpie and Korean tiger.

The decorations are inspired by the Taegeuk, the symbol in the center of the flag of the Republic of Korea, which the White House believes represents balance, harmony and peace.

And it pays homage to the 70-year alliance with the Republic of Korea. It includes platinum tablecloths and flowers that are important to both countries.

But its most dramatic features are the six-foot-tall cherry blossoms that tower above the tables, providing a canopy of pink flowers for guests to dine under.

“You have to admit that’s pretty spectacular,” Jill Biden said of the set.

The seating arrangement uses the porcelain from the administration of President George W. Bush. The plate has a golden eagle in the middle. Each napkin features a fresh flower blossom.

Some tables are made of teal Plexiglas, which reflects the cherry blossoms back at guests.

The bamboo chairs have blue upholstery reminiscent of traditional sumukhwa (Korean ink brush painting). The designs are branches with peonies, representing prosperity and joy, and bamboo elements, representing longevity and strength.

Peonies and the first lady of South Korea’s favorite flowers.

They are smaller vases of flowers as part of the seating arrangement: peonies, orchids, cherry blossoms and azaleas (a native Korean flower). They are all pink, red or white. Candles sparkle between the flower arrangements.

The entertainment portion of the evening will feature Broadway stars Norm Lewis, Lea Salonga and Jessica Vosk performing American musical classics.