On October 4, tens of thousands of citizens gathered in Seoul Plaza, Korea, to enjoy Korean singer Psy’s concert.

The chubby 34-year-old rapper, who recently became a global sensation with his song ‘Gangnam Style,’ held the concert for free in return for fans’ support.

According to Korean police authorities, about 80,000 citizens gathered, and it was the first time that the massive plaza was packed with this many people. His concert was also aired on YouTube, but many people had trouble with watching it because of too many simultaneous log-ins.

17-year-old student Huh Seung-ah said, “Usually, the concert ticket for a famous singer is really expensive. But, today, Psy is holding the concert for free! I didn’t want to miss this chance.”

Not only teenagers, but also middle-aged citizens attended Psy’s concert. 43-year-old house wife Kim Ji-hee said, “I see Psy’s news on TV every day. I wanted to see how fun his concert is.”

Foreign fans were also spotted. 24-year-old Valentina from Chile said, “I came to Korea to enjoy the Korean singer’s music, and today I’m so happy that I can enjoy Psy’s concert for free.”

The concert, which started around 10 pm, kicked off with Psy’s song “Right Now,” and reached the climax when Psy sang “Gangnam Style.”

Around 11:30 pm, Psy showed up with a bottle of soju, saying, “I promised that I will not drink on the stage, but, today, I’m so happy that I feel like I should drink.” He emptied the bottle after shouting, “Korea! Hooray!”

When 11:40 pm came, he took off his shirt and danced topless to “Gangnam Style.” He once said he would dance topless if he tops the Billboard Hot 100. Even though his song remains on second place of the chart as of October 5, he performed topless as he promised.

Because of the concert, the traffic of Seoul was controlled and guided by the police authorities from 6pm to midnight. Hotels and stores located around Seoul Plaza benefited from Psy’s concert.

Seoul Plaza Hotel, which is standing right next to Seoul Plaza, was all booked by people who wanted to watch Psy’s concert in the hotel. According to the hotel, some customers asked the hotel to change their room to higher floor to enjoy the concert.”

Convenience stores around the plaza also witnessed their sales volume increase. A part-time worker at Seven Eleven said, “Thanks to Psy’s concert, the number of customers was doubled.”

Image Courtesy of  KOREA.NET – Official page of the Republic of Korea

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Korea’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has decided to make Psy’s song ‘Right Now‘ X-rated in Korea, and Korean people are expressing their displeasure.

Since ‘Right Now’ has attracted attention worldwide along with ‘Gangnam Style’, it is expected that Psy might release this song as his U.S. single by rewriting it. Psy said on September 29 via his twitter, “I heard the music video of ‘Right Now’ is getting attention on Youtube. It is a nice chance to follow up with this song!”

The song ‘Right Now’ was released in 2010, and it has attracted about 6 million viewers on Youtube with its distinctive lyrics and dance.

However, watching this music video on Youtube requires confirmation that the viewer is an adult, not only for Koreans, but also for foreigners. This is because Korea’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has made the song X-rated, so Psy also had to open this music video only for people aged over 18.

The ministry, which was built in 2001 to protect the rights of women, teenagers, and children, made ‘Right Now’ X-rated because of a series of slang terms that were used in the song.

Regarding the ministry’s decision, the signature collection campaign by Korean Internet users is being held online, asking the ministry to withdraw its decision.

The campaign started on September 16, and as of October 1, about 1,200 people signed for this campaign.

The Internet user “ChungDoSeYou,” who led this campaign, said, “Because of the ministry’s decision, people are having trouble with watching the music video of ‘Right Now.’ I believe this song and music video have a possibility to become popular in the foreign market. Even some comments on Youtube said this song is better than Gangnam Style.”

He added, “The ministry’s decision is an outdated view which is limiting the chance to promote K-pop to people worldwide.”

This was not the first time Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has been blamed for an outdated view. Since the ministry was established, many Korean songs and music videos have become X-rated for their lyrics. For example, the song ‘SulYiYa,’ which can be translated alcohol in English, by a Korean singer Jang Hye-jin, became X-rated because the song talks about alcohol, which is bad for teenagers. The song ‘Americano’ also was banned from teenagers because the song has the word cigarette in its lyrics.

The website of ministry is flooded with Korean Internet users’ frustrated comments. Surnamed Ko said, “The ministry is ruining the right to pursue people’s happiness by applying outdated standard to K-pop songs,” while surnamed Jung said, “I understand the purpose of ministry to protect teenagers from vulgar content, but in Psy’s case, I think the ministry has gone too far.”

Image Courtesy of  KOREA.NET – Official page of the Republic of Korea

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As the popularity of Korean singer Psy’s Gangnam Style increases, the supporting cast of his music video is getting attention as well. Among these, the most popular one is the smiling guy who dances when the door of the elevator opens, while Psy lies on the floor inside of the elevator, singing. The man is dancing to Psy’s song in a suggestive way, thrusting his pelvis. People have found his moves both funny and perverted and the guy is generally knowns as “Elevator Guy.”

The scene lasts for about seven seconds, which is short compared to other scenes of the music video. However, “Elevator Guy” has become somewhat of a phenomenon on his own as a lot of people find him hilarious and started to wonder who the guy really is.

Even Psy said via twitter, “People keep asking me about the elevator guy these days.”

The pelvis-thrusting guy in the video is actually a famous comedian and show host in South Korea. His name is No Hong-chul. He was born March 31, 1979.

No debuted as a show host on Korea’s music cable channel ‘Mnet’ in 2004. He quickly became popular with his witty words and distinct personality, and now is one of the most influential celebrities in Korea, appearing in many TV and radio programs.

He has shown a lot of talent in many fields so far. No was designated as a professional bobsleigh athlete from the Korea Sports Council, and as a dance sports player in 2007 and 2009 respectively. He used to run an online shopping mall selling grotesque clothes, and also controlled a tourism company. In 2010, he became a professor at Seoul Art College, teaching Fashion Art.

Korea’s newspaper, Nocut News, reported on September 13 that some American shows asked No to be on their show as a guest, but he rejected the offer because of the language barrier.

Gangnam Style has given No a lot of opportunity to get professional exposure, but actually he was not on the list of cast members at first. It is reported that No was on the music video as the “Elevator guy” by chance. No visited Psy when Psy was shooting the music video, and Psy asked him to be in one of the scenes. Psy is close friends with No.

The most popular show that No is current on is “Muhandojun,” which can be translated in English “infinite challenge,” or “reckless challenge.” Muhandojun was first on air back to 2006 from MBC, one of Korea’s biggest TV stations, and it is widely loved by Korean people. A total of seven members are hosting this show and No is one of them. The show is mainly about the hosts; they are given various missions and have to do those missions on camera. Since this show is super popular in Korea, when people are talking about No, they automatically connect this show to No.

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South Korea’s famous K-Pop star Psy, or Park Jae-sang, is grabbing the most attention in the U.S. with his latest song ‘Gangnam Style.’

His music video for “Gangnam Style” has already attracted about 59 million YouTube views, and stays at the number one spot on not only Billboard’s K-Pop charts, but also other Korean local music charts. The music video was introduced to viewers worldwide by global media such as CNN, ABC, LA TIMES, and the Wall Street Journal.

Psy recently visited the U.S., was on the U.S. TV show ‘Big Morning Buzz Live,’ on August 22, introducing his song to American viewers.

“Gangnam is an affluent area just like Beverly Hills in the state. But the funny part of my song is that a funny-looking guy like me is talking about Gangnam style in the song, because I don’t look like a guy from Gangnam,” said Psy on the show.

Psy taught his dance, the so-called horse dance, to the show hosts, making them laugh and excited.

The 36-year-old hip-hop singer, who graduated Berkelee college of music in Boston, debuted in 2001, winning huge popularity with his single ‘Bird’.

However, it did not take long for him to lose his fame and stand point.

His life has been just like a roller coaster over the past 12 years. He was convicted of smoking marijuana in the early 2000s. He was even accused of not properly fulfilling his alternative military service (In South Korea, men over the age of 18, need to fulfill their mandatory military service for two years), having the biggest crisis in his career and life in 2007.

Following several months of investigation by the prosecution, it turned out that Psy was neglecting his military duty, and he was ordered to serve the full two-year national service again in July 2007.

Because of all of these unfavorable factors for Psy, it seems that he has been gradually forgotten from the public’s memory. However, nothing could eliminate his passion toward music. He continues his music career by writing songs for other singers in Korea and holding concerts for his fans. His success with his latest song is not surprising.

It is reported that Psy has earned about ten billion won (about eight million dollars) so far with the song ‘Gangnam Style.’ He even was contacted by Justin Biber’s agency and flew to the U.S. to meet with him, implying that he might start his music career in the U.S. in the near future.

Image Courtesy of   PSY

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