Nowadays PSY’s new song, is taking the world by storm. On September 15, PSY’s hit song made it all the way to the Number 1 spot on US iTunes Top Songs chart. It is the first time for Korean and Korean pop music! And his horse-riding dance is now the most popular worldwide trend. Once it was uploaded to YouTube, it spread out like wild fires through twitter. Finally, the winds of mobile and electronic are fueling this uncontrollable worldwide phenomenon!

Why are people enthusiastic about his song?

I think there are many reasons. The first is the song itself. is not so serious. It is quite humorous. Many people find it funny when watching his music video. Young people, all around the world, are crazy about his horse-riding dance. More and more people are attracted to the song and the video. The Gangnam Style Syndrome is spreading quickly through internet. The second reason is that the song is a kind of kitschy. Kitschy means an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognized value.

The concept is associated with the deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that are unoriginal. People are happy with sharing this hot music video, and even they are willing to produce sub-music videos of mimicking the horse-riding dance. These videos are then uploaded to YouTube. Every day, in YouTube, we can find new versions of .

Finally, people can sympathize and experience catharsis in his hot song. People enjoy PSY’s comic character, a B-list singer. So they forget about their problems and worries while watching this crazy video. People are especially fond of the elevator scene of a Korean comedian Rho Hongchel and PSY. This unrealistic scene makes us forget and gives us the needed rest. For this reasons, people become fascinated with the song.

Some think this syndrome is just an exception. I believe in the universal appeal of the song, which appeals to all people. PSY’s hot song even goes beyond the barrier of language. It makes a worldwide sensation and it helps a great deal to pave a new way and spread K-pop around the world.

sys7698@naver.com