It has been revealed that Joko Widodo, the president of Indonesia, will meet with Super Junior during his trip to Korea.
The president is visiting South Korea on a state trip and while there, he will meet the famous Kpop idol group. The president has already talked about Super Junior on previous occasions, admitting that he first learned about the group through his daughter who is a fan. Since then, he began to learn their songs, and he and his daughter have even gone together to several Super Junior concerts before.¹
In one interview the president also spoke of wanting their two countries to work more closely together, especially in the economic sector. After talking about Super Junior, this led to group leader Leeteuk and Lee Soo Man of SM Entertainment being appointed as special members of the summit delegation for the Indonesia-Korea Business Summit in 2017.²
In fact, in a new interview with Chosun Ilbo, the president said he wouldn’t be surprised if Super Junior had millions of fans in his country. He said that there were only 45,000 tickets available for the closing ceremony of the Asian Games where the group performed, and over 1.5 million people attempted to buy tickets for the event. He stated, “Super Junior serves as an important diplomatic instrument that connects Korea and the Indonesian people,” a quote that soon was published in Korean news with the title “Super Junior Diplomacy.”
As such, it comes as no surprise that the Indonesian president will be meeting personally with the group during his time in South Korea.
The Indonesian president isn’t the only famous fan of Super Junior, however. The group has also made numerous headlines when other global celebrities talked about their love for the group. A few of these notable international fans include Pia Wurtzbach (Miss Universe 2015), various Olympic athletes— including U.S. snowboarder and Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim, and the president of the International Olympic Committee himself.
UPDATED (September 10th KST):
As reported previously, the Indonesian president and his wife met personally with Super Junior and SM Entertainment officials. They reportedly talked briefly about Korean and Indonesian relations, Kpop, and Super Junior’s recent Asian Games performance. The first family also received a signed CD from the popular group.
Check out the photos below!
Media: WTK
Source: MSN/Huffpost