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South Korean President Lee Jae Myung took a selfie with Chinese President Xi Jinping after a dinner at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Xi Jinping gifted Lee a Xiaomi smartphone last year, joking during their previous meeting that the device might be capable of spying. During his visit to Beijing, Lee shared three selfies with Xi and their wives on social media platform X. He mentioned that the photos were captured with the phone Xi gave him.
“I snapped a selfie with President Xi Jinping and his wife using the Xiaomi I received as a gift in Gyeongju,” Lee wrote. “Thanks to them, I got the shot of a lifetime.” He added, “I will communicate more often and work more closely moving forward.”
This Xiaomi device gained attention in November when Xi made a humorous remark to Lee at an APEC summit in South Korea. Lee inquired whether the phone’s communication line was secure, prompting Xi to joke about checking for a backdoor, referring to software that could allow third-party monitoring—an unusual display of humor from the usually reserved Chinese leader.
During their 90-minute meeting on Monday, Xi encouraged Lee to make strategic decisions jointly with Beijing amid a complex and turbulent global landscape. Lee’s visit comes after a U.S. military operation in Caracas captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and brought him to New York to face drug trafficking charges—a move condemned by both Beijing and Pyongyang.
The online response to Lee’s selfie was swift, with more than 3,400 shares within hours. One user commented, “Sir, do you realize Nicolás Maduro used the same phone?” Lee, who became president in June after the impeachment and removal of his predecessor over martial law issues, has been working to thaw strained diplomatic relations with China after years of freeze.
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