Macron Takes Selfie With Jun Ji-hyun and Psy, Snaps Photo on Stray Kids’ Felix’s Phone

According to Financial News, after wrapping up his two-day state visit to Korea, President Emmanuel Macron expressed his affection for K-culture through his social networking service (SNS) accounts.

On the 3rd, Macron posted a video on his Instagram with the Korean phrase meaning "finger heart" in the caption. The clip uses Stray Kids’ track "Victory Song" as background music and shows Macron carrying out his schedule in Korea from the 2nd to the 3rd. As of 8 a.m. on the 6th, the video had recorded 2.78 million views.
Macron also released a group photo taken with his wife Brigitte Macron, actors Jun Ji-hyun, Jeon Jong-seo, and Noh Sang-hyun, singer Psy, and Stray Kids member Felix. The picture is believed to have been taken during his final engagement, a dinner with cultural figures.
In addition, Macron shared a photo of himself holding hands with President Lee. For this post, he again set BTS’s "Friends" as the background music and wrote the word "Friends" in Korean.

Macron paid a two-day state visit to Korea from the 2nd to the 3rd. The trip, held to commemorate the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and France, was the first state visit to Korea by a French president in 11 years, since François Hollande’s visit in 2015.
During the visit, the leaders of the two countries highlighted their cultural bonds.
At a couples’ friendship dinner held on the 2nd at Sangchunjae at Cheong Wa Dae, First Lady Brigitte Macron mentioned Blackpink.
Brigitte Macron told President Lee and his wife, "I will show you a video of K-pop group Blackpink performing with violinist Daniel Lozakovich in Paris," and President Macron personally searched for the video on his phone and showed it to the couple. Back in 2023, Blackpink and Lozakovich performed together at a concert hosted by the French Hospital Foundation, for which Brigitte Macron serves as chair.
On the 3rd, when Brigitte Macron visited the National Museum of Korea with President Lee’s wife, Kim Hea Kyung, she also brought up the popular Netflix animated film "KPop Demon Hunters" and the series Squid Game.
Looking at the Oegyujanggak Uigwe records on a large display, Kim paused at a tiger illustration and explained, "In KPop Demon Hunters, the tiger character Derpy was hugely popular, and this tiger (in the Uigwe) is that kind of tiger." Brigitte Macron responded, "It’s wonderful. I know it as a very successful work," adding, "Squid Game was also very popular in France. I watched it with great interest."
Cultural diplomacy continued at the state luncheon held on the 3rd to welcome Macron’s visit.
In his toast, Macron said, "Han Kang, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature, once spoke of ‘the golden thread that connects our hearts,’" and added, "I would also like to describe the 140 years of friendship between our two countries with the metaphorical word ‘golden thread.’" He went on, "My Korean is not very good," but then offered a greeting in Korean, saying "Thank you," and raised his glass, proposing a toast with the Korean word for "Cheers," which drew applause.
newssu@fnnews.com Kim Su-yeon Reporter