French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron have sent the internet into meltdown after making a surprise appearance at the BTS concert in Paris.
Macron and Brigitte were spotted in the exclusive VIP seating at the Stade de France on Friday, July 17, enjoying the viral K-pop sensation concert on the first day in France as they begin the BTS Arirang world tour.
The president and first lady holding the K-pop group’s signature light sticks, commonly known by fans as ARMY Bombs, quickly got BTS Army attention and went viral on international social media, The Korean Herald reported.
Concert attendees shared the videos of the couple on social media as Brigitte tried to figure out how to turn on the interactive light sticks in the sold-out stadium.
Emmanuel Macron shares a heartfelt message for BTS
Taking to Instagram later, the French president shared a heartfelt post for the seven-member K-pop sensation.
The 48-year-old who attended the concert with his 73-year-old wife shared a few seconds of video of BTS performing one of its record-smashing hits, Dynamite, in a house full and wrote, “Bienvenue a Paris! (Welcome to Paris).”
Social media reacted to the video, expressing their shock at the president's BTS fever while parsing the band's global influence.
A user wrote, “I thought it was a fan account at first.”
“Macron under K-pop was not in my bingo,” another added.
“Wonderful that the president supports music culture. The president of Chile should imitate culture, not go," one praised.
The fourth one joked, “I've never thought someday I would put a like on one Macron post until he posted Bangtan SONYEONDAN.”
“TBH I can't believe that he's a BTS fan lol, maybe it's to know the youth trend,” a user commented.
It is worth noting that South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, during his latest visit to France in April, gifted Brigitte Macron autographed CDs by South Korean pop stars, including BTS.
