South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has shared a selfie with Xi Jinping using the phone gifted to him by the Chinese premier.
In a post on X shared on Monday, Lee shared three photos of selfies of himself, Xi and their wives during a visit to Beijing.
“The image quality is certainly good, right?” Lee posted on X along with the photos. He took the photos with the Xiaomi handset gifted by Xi Jinping.
“A selfie with President Xi Jinping and his wife, taken with the Xiaomi I received as a gift in Gyeongju. Thanks to them, I got the shot of a lifetime,” he added.
Lee’s office also posted a short YouTube video wherein Xi could be seen complimenting the South Korean leader’s photo skills.
According to AFP, the Xiaomi handset made headlines in November when Xi cracked a joke to Lee on the sidelines of an APEC summit in South Korea.
When Lee questioned if the communication line was secured, Xi asked him to “check if there is a backdoor”, referring to the pre-installed software that could allow third-party monitoring.
The South Korean President said Xi was “unexpectedly quite good at making jokes”.
During their ninety-minute summit on Monday, AFP reported, Xi urged Lee to join Beijing in making the “right strategic choices” in a world that is “becoming more complex and turbulent”.
The selfie photos posted by Lee has sparked heavy interest online and was shared more than 3,400 times in the first few hours, the media outlet reported.
One of the users said: “A shared smile, a casual selfie-these moments do more enhance relations than a thousand press releases.”
Another user said: “Sir, Do you know Nicolas Maduro used the same phone?”
During the meeting, the South Korean leader, who took office in June following the impeachment and removal of his predecessor over a martial law declaration, sought to improve ties with China after a years-long diplomatic deep freeze.