(AFP) – South Korean pop sensation Park Jae-Sang posted another landmark Tuesday, when the video of his global-hit “Gangnam Style” notched 200 million views on YouTube, days after topping the US iTunes chart.

“Got 200 million views!!! Thx everybody!!!” Park, better known by his stage name “Psy”, wrote on his Twitter account @psy_oppa.

The video, featuring Psy performing his signature “horse riding dance”, went viral shortly after being posted on the video-sharing site in mid-July, turning the chubby, 34-year-old singer into an international star.

Recent appearances at the MTV awards in Los Angeles and on numerous prime-time US talk shows have boosted his profile even higher, pushing “Gangnam Style” to the top of the US iTunes Chart on Saturday.

Psy has also signed a contract with Justin Bieber’s management agency, although he has some way to go to topple Bieber from the top of YouTube’s all-time, most-viewed chart.

The teenage heart-throb’s “Baby” video is currently closing in on 800 million views.

 

What is “Gangnam?”

Gangnam, is a coveted neighbourhood in the capital of South Korea, Seoul.  Like Runda is to Nairobi; Gangnam is to Seoul.  A beneficiary of a development boom in the last 30 years, Gangnam is new money.

The Gangnam neighbourhood is a place in Seoul where people aspire to live, where the trendiest boutiques, clubs, plastic surgery clinics, and prestigious prep schools share the same address.

Most Gangnam residents are generally seen as South Koreans that have not risen through the ranks of society by following traditional virtues of hard work and sacrifice.  By simply living in a coveted neighbourhood, incites a lot of envy and bitterness from 99 per cent of South Koreans that do not live in Gangnam.

PSY’s Gangnam Style is a hilarious and entertaining song, full of satirical references, which pushes the social boundaries of a liberal and modern society that’s underlined by traditional values and expectations.