BEIJING: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung took a selfie with Xi Jinping using a smartphone given to him by the Chinese leader, who joked during their last meeting that the device might be capable of spying.
Lee posted three selfies of himself, Xi and their wives on social media platform X on Monday during his visit to Beijing.
The photos were taken with a phone the Chinese leader gave him last year, Lee said.
“A selfie with President Xi Jinping and his wife, taken with the Xiaomi I received as a gift in Gyeongju,” Lee wrote.
“Thanks to them, I got the photo of my life,” he added.
“I will communicate more frequently and collaborate more closely in the future.”
The Xiaomi phone made headlines in November when Xi pulled a prank on Lee on the sidelines of an APEC summit in South Korea.
When Lee asked whether the communications line on the device was secure, the Chinese leader urged him to “check if there is a backdoor” – referring to pre-installed software that could allow third-party surveillance.
The jokes were a rare display of humor from the Chinese leader, who is rarely seen making jokes, much less about espionage.
During their ninety-minute summit on Monday, Xi urged Lee to join Beijing in making the “right strategic choices” in a world that is “becoming increasingly complex and turbulent.”
Lee’s visit to China follows a US military operation in Caracas that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and brought him to New York to face drug trafficking charges – a raid condemned by Beijing and Pyongyang.
Lee’s selfie sparked widespread interest online and was shared more than 3,400 times in the first few hours.
One user joked: “Sir, do you know that Nicolas Maduro used the same phone?
The South Korean leader, who took office in June after his predecessor was impeached and removed from office following the declaration of martial law, has sought to improve relations with China after a deep, years-long diplomatic freeze.
