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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