On ‘Gangnam Style’

Psy's jumpy dance hit "Gangnam Style" has taken the world by storm, leaving Koreans shocked and surprised.

By Robert J. Fouser

Psy's jumpy dance hit "Gangnam Style" has taken the world by storm, leaving Koreans shocked and surprised.

The song broke out on YouTube and has jumped to No. 11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in just two weeks. The distinctive "horse dance" is infectious. The popularity of the song is rapidly spreading from the U.S. to other countries.

The immense popularity of "Gangnam Style" caught Koreans off guard. As news of the phenomenon spread, many Koreans wondered if the reports were accurate or overblown. Previous failures at promoting K-pop in the U.S., one of the most intractable markets for ”hallyu,” or Korean wave, cultural products, enhanced the suspicions. Still others were confused because few would have predicted that Psy would become the first K-pop star to conquer the U.S.

The importance of "Gangnam Style" is as immense as its success. Psy has become the most famous Korean alive overnight. No Korean in history has been the center of so much attention as him. Except for video artist Nam June Paik, previously famous Koreans have all been political leaders; Psy now blows them away in name recognition.

This reflects Korea's rise as a trend-setting producer, not just a consumer, of popular culture. This brings an end to the era when political tensions on the Korean Peninsula rose and offers hope that more coverage of Korea's cultural dynamism will follow.

This is important for various efforts at nation branding that have been in the air since the 1997 economic crisis. "Gangnam Style" was an unexpected hit, not a promoted one. Experts in Seoul did not gather together to promote or "globalize" Psy or the song. It just happened.

This says volumes about efforts to promote Korean cultural products overseas: What Koreans like is not necessarily what foreigners like. Foreigners bring their own experiences and expectations to Korean cultural products, so it is only natural that they will see different things from what Koreans see. And of course "foreigners" vary greatly, so what is a hit in one place may not be a hit in another. "Gangnam Style" is successful in the U.S. because of its inviting beat and get-up-and-dance images.

Whether nation branders and promoters of Korean culture get this message remains in question because of the annoying tendency to claim ownership over everything Korean. Because they think foreigners don't know and they need to be told what's what by those who do. The ‘you-don't-know’ message itself is alienating and undercuts the very cause the experts are seeking to promote. The unexpected "Gangnam Style" should be proof enough that planning has its limits.

Planning may have its limits, but investment does not. The roots of hallyu and K-pop can be found in the late 1990s efforts to promote information technology in the wake of the 1997 economic crisis. The economy in a shambles, President Kim Dae-jung's administration announced a series of initiatives to promote information technology and related industries.

One interesting initiative was the development of cable TV Internet access. Korea was the first country in the world to offer high speed broadband Internet access, which helped to promote the development of online multimedia content, which in turn made YouTube possible.

The same initiatives helped promote animation, computer graphics, video filming and a host of other creative industries. These industries have had their ups and downs, but they all contributed to creating the environment that helped make "Gangnam Style" possible. Future discussions on nation branding, then, should focus on creating an environment that embraces the future and encourages human creativity. The hits will follow.

And what about the images of Korea in "Gangnam Style"? Most of the images are neutral and could easily have been shot in another city that grew up in the late 20th century. Apartment blocks, wide streets, and underground parking garages can be found anywhere. The "most Korean" images are the dancing on the bus scenes.

They reflect the let-loose-and-play vein in Korean culture that has faded in recent years and that promoters of Korean culture, particularly traditional cultural events, shy away from. The images of people dancing on the bus, in the spirit of a fun flash mob, are an invitation to enjoy themselves. And, unlike other K-pop videos, the people in "Gangnam Style" are normal, not cyborgs that have been worked on to conform to an authorized image of beauty.

"Gangnam Style" is now a global phenomenon and Psy is the most famous Korean alive. The stunning success of the video and the song has turned assumptions about nation branding and images of Korean upside down. Psy deserves many rounds of applause for showing that raw talent rules and for making Korea look fun.

The writer is a professor at the Department of Korean Language Education at Seoul National University. Email him at fouser@snu.ac.kr.