President Lee Jae Myung became part of an unlikely K-pop crossover after he took a photo with a virtual version of BTS member RM — a moment that caught even the superstar himself off guard.

The moment happened during President Lee’s visit to the second exhibition hall at Kintex in Goyang, Gyeonggi, on Wednesday for the launch ceremony of the Presidential Committee on Popular Culture Exchange, where he toured a “K-culture experience zone” with co-chair Park Jin-young, producer and founder of JYP Entertainment.

Pointing to K-pop light sticks displayed on the wall, Lee said, “I saw a lot of these last winter,” and posed for a photo with Park while holding one.

He also visited a photo booth, where he took a four-cut photo using a digital frame that included an image of RM.

When Park said, “RM isn’t here, but you can still take a photo with him,” Lee jokingly replied, “Shall I pretend he is?” and struck several playful poses next to the digitally inserted image, including a finger heart and a thumbs-up.

The photo was later shared on the president’s social media. After seeing it, RM responded on fan platform Weverse with surprise, writing, “Oh my god. Is this photoshopped?”

During the event, President Lee emphasized his commitment to supporting the cultural industry.

“The Presidential Committee on Popular Culture Exchange is a public-private platform that combines the policy capacity of various ministries with the creativity and expertise of the private sector,” he said.

“The government will actively support our popular culture so that it can go beyond delivering joy, emotion and empathy to the global audience and become a core industry of the Korean economy.”

Video messages were also shared from director Maggie Kang of the Netflix hit film “KPop Demon Hunters,” K-pop acts Treasure and aespa, RM, professional gamer Faker, filmmakers Bong Joon-ho and Park Chan-wook, Billboard CEO Mike Van and Republic Records founder Monte Lipman.


This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JEONG HYE-JEONG [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]