A gun battle broke out on September 21 between armed gangsters in Thailand because of the song “Gangnam Style.”

Gangnam Style is the popular song by Korean pop singer Psy. This song is currently being appreciated by many people worldwide with its catchy melody and funny dance.

According to the Bangkok Post, two gangster groups, which have been rivaling with one another for years, fired off their guns at least 50 times at each other in downtown Bangkok on Friday.

The newspaper reported that two gangsters hold a ‘Gangnam Style’ dance contest. However, as the contest got along and the participants got excited, gang members started provoking and mocking each other, causing a volatile situation that broke into gun battle.

It is reported that some cars were damaged, but no people were injured.

Thailand has the second largest number of viewers of the Gangnam Style music video in the world, followed by the U.S., according to YouTube.

In Thailand, not only the original version of Gangnam style is enjoying popularity but also the parody versions are winning attention.

As of September 22, a parody video made by Thai YouTube user ‘tigercrychannel’ has attracted over 7,000,000 viewers, and another parody video, ‘Gangnam Style Bie The Ska’ has gotten over 3,600,000 viewers.

Meanwhile, The music video of Gangnam style has surpassed two million views on YouTube so far. The video ranked 30th in the number of viewers ranking of YouTube. It took only 70 days for Psy’s music video to land this spot.

It is expected that the music video of Psy’s Gangnam Style would attract over 500 million viewers by upcoming November at this pace, according to Korea’s newspaper etnews.

The music video of Gangnam Style attracted one hundred million viewers on YouTube only within 52 days, while it took 56 days for Justin Biber’s “Baby,” and 114 days for Beyonce’s “Single Lady.”

If the video of Gangnam Style reaches the number of 300 million viewers, it will be ranked in top 20, and when it attracts 500 million viewers, it will place its name in top 5.

Justin Biber’s “Baby” is currently on the first place of this ranking with having 780 million viewers.

Psy has just started his move in the U.S, promoting himself by being on many American shows and performing in concerts, it is expected that he would garner more viewers on YouTube and drag more people’s attention.

Gangnam Style is on the 11th spot on the Billboard and the 1st spot on iTunes Charts as of September 22.

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South Korean girl band Kara has released their fifth mini album including its title track, Pandora. The band performed on the Korean music show, KBS Music Bank, on August 23, causing controversy among Korean people regarding their performance and gaudy outfits.

Being one of the most popular girl bands in both South Korea and Japan, Kara is often the center of attention on the Asian music scene. However, this time they are receiving a different type of attention, which may or may not be intentional.

Kara, which debuted in South Korea in 2007, consists of five members: Park Kyu-ri, Han Seung-yeon, Nicole, Koo Ha-ra, and Kang Ji-young. After winning huge popularity in Korea, they flew to Japan and released their first album in 2010. They quickly became popular, introducing Korean pop music to Japanese people. They were the first to do so as a girl band. Now, many popular K-Pop girl bands exist in Japan, such as Girl’s Generation, After School, or T-ara. But the success of Kara in Japan still bears a lot of meaning.

The recent controversy began when Kara released their music video “Pandora” to the public. In the video, all members wear swimsuit-like short jumpsuits under blazers. The nude-tone jumpsuit makes them look as if they were not wearing anything but brassieres under the blazer. The most controversial part of the music video happens when all members turn around, facing the back of the stage, and take off their blazers halfway, showing their almost naked backs.

Given Korea’s conservative and conformist social atmosphere, it was no surprise that Kara’s performance would cause controversy. Even before Kara’s comeback show was held at the KBS Music Bank, an official of the show said, “Since most viewers of the show are teenagers, the show might change Kara’s performance of outfits if it is thought to be too lascivious.”

However, Kara went ahead with the show, without changing their performance or outfits.

After the performance, many Korean social websites were heated by people’s mixed reactions. Some conservative viewers actively disagreed, saying “It just looked like a lingerie show. Was it necessary?” Meanwhile, others defended Kara, saying “What to wear and how to dance are all up to the artist. It is related to a freedom of expression. People should not blame them.”

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Korean pop has become extremely popular in the last five years not only in Asia, but worldwide. Annually, Korean artists sell millions of copies of their albums; spectacular concerts reinforce popularity. However, the South Korean entertainment industry has its own dark secrets.

How prestigious is it, in fact, to be an idol in one of the fastest developing Asian counties?

Being a K-pop star is not what teenage fans think it is. And if you are one of those who is ready to throw yourself into the maelstrom of the Korean pop industry, arm yourself, first at all, with patience. Do not deceive yourself that the way up to fame is short and that the red carpet has something in common with the magic carpet of Aladdin. Korean artists have a hard time during their pre-debut, but the light in the tunnel doesn’t show up when they start their real career.

To become a famous star in South Korea you need long, exhausting and, in most of the cases, undeserving training. The so called trainees are young enthusiasts, blinded by the fictional idea of becoming celebrities, believing that life is much easier on stage.

Usually trainees are still students that don’t give up their education because of the training. Besides attending regular classes, they spend at least four hours a day learning music, choreography and even foreign languages like Japanese and English. However, a lot of youngsters prefer to drop out of school in order to devote all of their time and efforts to the dream of becoming K-pop idols. In this case they start a full-time training, which sometimes continues from morning until night.

This way of life lasts differently for everyone. Jo Kwon from the famous boy band Big Bang and Girls Generation’s Sooyoung trained for seven years before their debut. For others, like the female singer G.NA, the training program continued five years. Only a few cases last less than a year, like the Wonder Girls’ Yubin, whose pre-debut lasted only three months.

Entertainment companies invest in their future stars from half a billion to one billion Korean wons, or roughly $500,000 to $1,000,000 USD. Of course, companies quickly retrieve their money and start to earn it back from their just debuted idols.

In the first months after their official debut, new celebrities and their entertainment companies concentrate on increasing the popularity of the idols. They take part in variety of TV shows, give autographs, and do everything to win the hearts of the ordinary people. For all this they receive nothing but fame and love. The wages of the K-pop stars, especially at the beginning of their career, are minimal, but responsibilities and work triple.

In addition, the incessant control that the management companies exercise over the Korean pop artists takes away their freedom as performers. Both the personal life and career of the K-pop celebrities depend on the decisions their representatives make. Often, these decisions can be life changing.

In 2010, three of the five members of the Asia’s most popular boy band Dong Bang Shin Ki (DBSK) began a lawsuit against their management company, SM Entertainment, on the grounds that their 13-year-contract was too strict, giving them no freedom as entertainers and no possibilities for self-success.

“The members did not receive the right treatment even from SM. Without getting any contract fees, the initial contract was that if their album sells more than 500,000 copies, each member will get about 10 million wons during the next album release. If they sell less than 500,000 copies of album, they will get nothing,” a representative of the affected boys commented in an interview during the legal proceedings.

Ultimately, the other two members continued to support their management company. However, DBSK was officially disbanded.

In July 2012, the members of the famous girl band T-ara were also engaged in a scandal. When their management company, Core Contents Media, officially terminated the contract of one of the singers, Hwayong, some of the Korean fans speculated that that Hwayoung was tormented by the rest of the girls. However, their management company denied these hearsays.

“I would like to say that the rumors surrounding T-ara concerning bullying are not true…T-ara’s teamwork is what is most important and after listening to the opinions of 19 staff members who are having a hard time because of the members, we have decided to terminate Hwayoung’s contract,” Kim Kwangsoo, the CEO of Core Content s Media, declared in an interview.

“If there is a member who makes the image of the group bad or only is in the group for the fame, it is necessary to change out members of the group. In order to keep T-ara’s future bright, we must always take precautions,” he added.

Korean performers enjoy exceptional popularity in Asia and overseas. While in their home country fans prefer to download music for free, in Japan K-pop artists make huge profits from selling their albums. Bernie Cho, the head of DFSB Kollective, a Korean music distribution company, declared that “a lot of top idols make more money for a week in Japan than they do for a year in South Korea.” However, international concerts are the main source of money for the Korean artists and their management companies.

In 2011, $3.8 billion were added to the Korean treasury just from entertainment, which is around 14% more than in 2010. As the K-pop industry gathers speed, the price of fame should not be underestimated.

Imag Courtesy of  USAG-Humphreys

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When you hear the words “Asian Culture” you may immediately think of animated cartoons and kimonos, but with the growing overseas popularity of the asian pop music scene, this is the time to rethink our perception of Asian cultural output.

When we talk about music, it is no longer the traditional zen-like tunes we should be associating but gorgeous, young people singing catchy songs and dancing like most can only dream they could dance. Japanese bands are well-known among anime fans, video gamers, and cosplayers worldwide.

The hit game Kingdom Hearts’ songs were sung by a Japanese singer, Hikaru Utada and both her Japanese and English versions of the songs were popular outside of the Asian hemisphere.

Korea also has their fair share of pop stars. They have the same catchy, upbeat tunes and dance moves as J-Pop, but have not been as popular as J-Pop in the United States in the past. Now they are giving Japanese artists a run for their money. Not only are they touring around the world, but they are also singing in Korean, Japanese, and English.

The biggest K-Pop band to take hold of American fans is SMEntertainment’s Girls’ Generation, also known as SNSD (So Nyuh Shi Dae). Their first album debuted in 2007 and took Asia by storm. Now this nine-girl band has swept through Australia, France, Japan, and the United States. While in France, fans protested the sold out show and were awarded with a second concert to accommodate them all.

Performances in the United States have not been as big, but hundreds of fans have shoved their way to see them perform on David Letterman’s late night talk show and Live! With Kelly. Even if they were unable to make it inside to see the girls’ performance, they waited eagerly outside just to catch a glimpse of and perhaps an autograph from one of the group’s beautiful members.

Girls’ Generation’s newest album, “The Boys,” has made it to number two on Billboard’s World Album Chart and has led the group to labelled “a world-class group” by David Assogba who is in charge of the groups album distribution in Europe.

This all-girl group is the first of possibly many Korean bands to hit it off in America. With a large number of Asian culture fanatics in the United states, they could do very well in touring the North American continent. Within the past year, a K-Pop music store opened in Gurnee, Illinois and Asian languages are becoming a popular field of college study.

Even high schools have clubs that center around Asian culture and who can ignore the numerous conventions centered around anime, manga, and cosplaying. Instead of focusing on Japanese culture, now is the time for Korea to enter the mix.

If you are still in the dark, take a look at other Korean bands at SMEnterainment’s Youtube channel, SMTown.

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