U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday clarified his stance that he would not tackle Samsung Group’s retweets of Obama’s selfie, Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jay-yong said Saturday.

“(Obama) said the selfie would not pose any problem,” Lee told reporters after a meeting between Obama and local business leaders in Seoul. The U.S. president was making a two-day visit to Korea on Friday and Saturday.

The controversy began when Boston Red Sox player David Ortiz posted a picture with Obama on his Twitter acccount and Samsung retweeted the post to its 5.2 million followers, saying the photo was taken with the Korean electronics firm’s Galaxy Note 3. 

Following the post, the White House rebuked Samsung for using the photo as corporate advertisement. “I can say that as a rule, the White House objects to attempts to use the president’s likeness for commercial purposes,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said.

Obama’s remark in Seoul, however, may quell the controversy. He also reportedly took a selfie with a Korean employee in the elevator on the same day.

Lee said after the event, “the atmosphere (of the meeting) was good,” and that “we did not discuss it (the controversy)” for the sake of focusing on investment in the U.S.

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)