Psy says he would like to see Obama do ‘Gangnam Style’ move

Korea’s pop sensation Psy said late Friday he would like to see Barack Obama do the “Gangnam Style” dance move when he meets the U.S. president at a Washington D.C. concert later this month.

The 34-year-old singer and rapper, whose video of his song “Gangnam Style” became a YouTube megahit, is to perform at the concert called “Christmas in Washington” to be held on Dec. 21, hosted by U.S. cable channel TNT. The annual concert is attended by dignitaries including the U.S. president and first lady.

“I cannot force him to dance,” Psy said in a press conference held after a music awards event held in Hong Kong.

“But I heard a news report that he said he can do the dance move. It would be a very exciting show if he could at least move his hands,” he said in the Korean language, which was not fully translated into English.

His song, which pokes fun at the affluent business and residential district of Gangnam in the southern Seoul, is popular partly for the signature horse-riding dance.

Obama said earlier that he has seen Psy’s popular music video and that he thinks he can do the horse-riding dance, according to news reports.

The U.S. president, who was then running for his second term as president, said he might do the dance if he wins re-election.

“I’m not sure that the inauguration ball is the appropriate time to break that out,” he was quoted as saying.

“You know, maybe do it privately for Michelle.”

Obama won his second four-year term on Nov. 7.

Psy was in Hong Kong Friday for the Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA), at which he and other Korean pop singers performed. He was awarded a grand prize for “Song of the Year.”

The MAMA is one of the major K-pop music award ceremonies and hosted by Mnet Media, an entertainment subsidiary of CJ Group.

It has been held annually in Asian cities since 2009, with some of the most popular Korean singers participating.

Previous events were held in Singapore, Macao and Seoul.

Psy said the year 2012 has been unforgettable for him.

“It has been all miracle — 850 million people watching my video on Youtube. I don’t think I can’t beat this record forever, (even) if I do a naked video,” he told reporters in English.

“I am happy today and I will be happy tomorrow. I am happy every day. I am living a dream right now.”

He said he is currently working on a new single, which is scheduled to be released next March.

“Until the end of December, I am fully booked up,” he said, citing his busy schedules to perform across the world.

“Starting from January, I’ve got to focus on the new one.”

The quirky entertainer said he plans to go to mainland China.

“I have recently opened a Weibo account secretly. And the number of followers has been increasing really fast,” he said. Weibo is China’s own Twitter-like social network service.

“China is the biggest market in the whole universe. I want to be there, I gotta be there.”

The video of Psy’s hit single topped last month YouTube’s all-time list of most-viewed videos, bumping Canadian heartthrob Justin Bieber’s “Baby” that garnered 803.65 million views.

He rocketed to global fame after the video went viral online. Boosted by the popularity of the video, the song has topped charts from 30 countries, including Britain, and had occupied the No. 2 slot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for seven straight weeks. <The Korea Times/Yonhap>