Psy’s Gangnam Style

Psy’s Gangnam Style (싸이의 강남/江南 스타일) is a music video, posted on YouTube on July 15, 2012.

The music video of his “Gangnam Style” features the famed horse-trotting dance.

Psy, 34-year-old Jae-Sang Park’s stage name, is breaking every day the Guinness World Record for the “most liked” video on YouTube, eclipsing the previous record holder, LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem.”

As of September 23, 2012, Korean singer’s music video had 2.45 million “likes” while the American electro-pop duo received less than 1.6 million. In terms of page view, his music video exceeded 100 million on September 4, 2012, making it double two weeks later.

Still the count is increasing. It was funny coincidence that, on December 21, 2012, the very Doomsday under the Mayan calendar, YouTube views of the “Gangnam Style” video broke 1,000,000 record. The Mayan calendar began in 3114 BC and completes its 5,125-year cycle on the winter solstice day. This could be interpreted as a sign of apocalypse.

At midnight on April 12, 2013, Psy's new song "Gentleman" was released worldwide, and received more than 200 million views on YouTube just nine days after its first release online. The video was receiving traffic at a much faster pace than his global sleeper hit "Gangnam Style" which attracted 200 million hits 60 days after its release.

Key words
Psy Gangnam Style, Korean Wave, YouTube, surveillance, privacy

Korean Wave and Gangnam Style
So far the K-pop singers have done good job via YouTube. Taking advantage of this music video playing site, Girls' Generation, Wonder Girls, Super Junior, Dong-Bang-Shin-Ki, etc. have led the Korean Wave, or Hallyu (한류/韓流) all across the globe. They are predominantly in their teens or early 20s, with chiseled looks and gyrating dance moves. At best, they have racked up 50-80 million hits on YouTube, but the 35-year-old Psy has dwarfed them all with "Gangnam Style."

The cheerful clowning of "Gangnam Style" came as a shock to many in the business. The song overturned stereotypes and demonstrated what can be achieved by thinking out of the box. The video shows a podgy man on the wrong side of 30 poking energetic fun at himself. It laughs at the obsession of Korea's rich with bling. Producers of the hit music video said they focused on making it "funny and addictive."

Music Video and Visual Surveillance
Gangnam means the district south of the Han River, newly built business center of Seoul City as well as wealthy neighborhood.

At Gangnam, as shown in Psy's music video, alongside the Han River, the high-rise commercial buildings and apartments of Seoul residents make a different style of skyline.

Psy's music video shows as background children's playground, stable of horses, sauna room, indoor tennis court, sightseeing bus, riverside park for recreation, merry-go-round at a theme park, parking lot in the basement, elevator hall, subway platform, public bath tub, large-size gymnasium, toilet, etc.

Surprisingly, most of the scenes except the sauna room, public bath tub and toilet are routinely filmed and monitored by CCTV cameras.

In fact, there are more than 14 hundred of CCTV cameras installed and operated at the Gangnam-gu area as of September 2012.

Really, Seoul citizens at Gangnam are under surveillance of someone else.

Statutory Grounds
In Korea, the newly implemented Personal Information Protection Act allows visual data gathering devices like CCTV to be installed in public places only for the purpose of prevention of crime.

The Act regulates not only CCTVs but also network cameras, or Web cameras. The Act Article 25 (Limitation to Installation and Operation of Visual Data Processing Devices) of the Act
 * (1) No one shall install and operate visual data processing devices at open places except in the cases as stated in the following Subparagraphs:
 * 1. Where laws and regulations allow it in a concrete manner;
 * 2. Where it is necessary for the prevention and investigation of crimes;
 * 3. Where it is necessary for the safety of facilities and prevention of fire;
 * 4. Where it is necessary for regulatory control of traffic; or
 * 5. Where it is necessary for the collection, analysis and provision of traffic information.
 * (2) No one shall install and operate visual data processing devices so as to look into the places which likely threat individual privacy noticeably, such as a bathroom open to the public, toilet, sweating room and dressing room; provided, however, that the same shall not apply to the facilities, which detain or protect persons pursuant to laws and regulations, such as a penitentiary, mental health center stated by the Presidential Decree.
 * (3) The head of public institutions who intends to install and operate visual data processing devices pursuant to each Subparagraph of Paragraph (1) and the person who intends to install and operate visual data processing devices pursuant to the proviso of Paragraph (2) shall gather opinions of relevant specialists and interested persons through such formalities as public hearings, information sessions, etc. stated by the Presidential Decree.
 * (4) The person who intends to install and operate visual data processing devices pursuant to each Subparagraph of Paragraph (1) (hereinafter referred to as the “V/D Operator”) shall take necessary measures including posting on a signboard so that data subjects may recognize it with ease as stated by the Presidential Decree; provided, however, that the same shall not apply to such facilities as stated by the Presidential Decree.
 * (5) The V/D Operator shall not handle arbitrarily visual data processing devices for other purposes than the initial one, nor direct the said devices toward different spots, nor use sound recording functions.
 * (6) The V/D Operator shall take necessary measures to ensure the safety pursuant to Article 29, so that personal information may not be lost, stolen, leaked, altered or damaged.
 * (7) The V/D Operator shall work out the appropriate policy to operate and manage visual data processing devices as stated by the Presidential Decree. In this case, it may be discharged to make the privacy policy pursuant to Article 30.
 * (8) The V/D Operator may outsource the installation and operation of visual data processing devices; provided, however, that the public institutions considering outsourcing shall comply with the procedure and requirements stated by the Presidential Decree.

is concerned about the public places where unidentified multitude people come and go, and the closed places like an apartment elevator and corridor with only a pass card or key required to enter are beyond its application.

In accordance with the provisions of the Act, the Guidelines for the Operation and Management of Visual Data Processing Devices (영상정보처리기기 운영·관리 지침) have been implemented.