It’s not familiar to the people of the world. “Why not French or Japanese or Chinese?” he asks. Han acknowledges “some people dislike American culture” but says the relationship between Korean and American styles is unavoidable. We made the Korean wave from American culture.” “Then they found similar and friendly culture from Korea. “People like American culture,” says Han Koo-hyun, director of the Korean Wave Research Institute here. “He said if ‘Gangnam Style’ hit the Billboard chart, he would have a concert in front of a crowd in Seoul City Hall Plaza,” says Lauren Suk, an official in the new glass-walled city hall that looms above the plaza. It was, in fact, a homecoming welcome for an overnight sensation whose “ Gangnam Style,” a paean to the lush life in Korea’s richest district, is topping the charts in the US and Britain and is heard and seen on screens all over Korea. “I knew one of these K-pop stars would hit the world,” Psy tells his cheering audience, “but I didn’t know it would be me.” The K-pop – or Korean pop music – star, whose real name is Park Jae-sang, launched into two hours of prancing, singing, and rapping backed up by a dozen dancers.
“Psy, Psy,” they yelled as he appeared from the shadows of the set. The figure on the sprawling stage was barely visible to most of the 80,000 people massed on the Seoul City Hall plaza but came through far larger than life on three huge screens high above.