12:30 pm - 12/07/2012
"Kill them all slowly and painfully," the artist rapped at a 2004 anti-U.S. protest concert.
South Korean pop sensation PSY, aka Park Jae-sang -- might have won Americans over with his infectious breakthrough single, "Gangnam Style," but has America won him over? The singer will be forced to face those kinds of questions as several anti-American protest performances from his past have begun to surface.
At a 2002 concert staged in opposition to 37,000 U.S. troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula, Mediate reports, PSY took to the stage in gold face paint and a glittery red outfit, then lifted a model U.S. tank over his head before smashing it to pieces on the ground. The performance was a response to the death of two Korean school girls, killed in an accident with an American military vehicle, according to Korean website BusanHaps.com.
Then, two years later, a South Korean missionary was executed in Iraq -- a revenge killing for the country's support of the U.S. war in Iraq. During a protest concert, PSY rapped on the song "Dear American," "Kill those f---ing Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives/Kill those f---ing Yankees who ordered them to torture/Kill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law and fathers/Kill them all slowly and painfully."
PSY has appeared on Ellen and the Today show in support of his smash hit song, which has been downloaded 3 million times on iTunes, is the most-viewed video in YouTube history and has earned him more than $8 million, according to some estimates.
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'Kill Those F---ing Yankees': PSY's Anti-U.S. Past Surfaces
"Kill them all slowly and painfully," the artist rapped at a 2004 anti-U.S. protest concert.
South Korean pop sensation PSY, aka Park Jae-sang -- might have won Americans over with his infectious breakthrough single, "Gangnam Style," but has America won him over? The singer will be forced to face those kinds of questions as several anti-American protest performances from his past have begun to surface.
At a 2002 concert staged in opposition to 37,000 U.S. troops stationed on the Korean Peninsula, Mediate reports, PSY took to the stage in gold face paint and a glittery red outfit, then lifted a model U.S. tank over his head before smashing it to pieces on the ground. The performance was a response to the death of two Korean school girls, killed in an accident with an American military vehicle, according to Korean website BusanHaps.com.
Then, two years later, a South Korean missionary was executed in Iraq -- a revenge killing for the country's support of the U.S. war in Iraq. During a protest concert, PSY rapped on the song "Dear American," "Kill those f---ing Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives/Kill those f---ing Yankees who ordered them to torture/Kill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law and fathers/Kill them all slowly and painfully."
PSY has appeared on Ellen and the Today show in support of his smash hit song, which has been downloaded 3 million times on iTunes, is the most-viewed video in YouTube history and has earned him more than $8 million, according to some estimates.
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seems a bit hypocritical tbh as well, but ... yeah. I don't blame him for disliking America, but he's really embraced our fame and fortune which now seems really fake and icky. disliking America =/= wishing death upon innocents. and if you are going to just assume every person in America has the same attitude/stance/feelings on what our government is doing... nhft.
I thought he was a worldwide success?
we sort of suck in a lot of ways
eta - you may feel the same way .. just adding to conversation lol
Edited at 2012-12-07 08:05 pm (UTC)
Could...could it be that...his opinions changed over time? :O
I hate that the tone of this is so "WE LET HIM INTO AMERICA AND THIS IS HOW HE BETRAYS US." As though the West allowed him to become popular out of some great benevolence as opposed to thinly veiled exoticism and racism.
How about instead we talk about the appalling way that Psy was treated on those American talk shows?
there's this mob/herd mentality cultural thing that i wish i were more eloquent to explain that i want to apply here.
Edited at 2012-12-07 08:46 pm (UTC)
PSY and other Koreans feeling that way about the American military is valid and should be taken seriously, and is what should be the focus of the media circus that is coming now (but it won't be).
But calling for the murder of "yankees", responding to needless military violence by calling for the death of American citizens, is not the proper response and any fallout PSY receives from those statements is deserved.
We are not our military, and most Americans oppose the conflicts we've gotten involved in, which is the entire reason Obama got elected in the first place.
Yes, we've got crazies, but half of your entire country split off to worship a tubby dictator. We've all got issues. Let's try to fix them instead of pointing our anger at people just trying to make it through life with no ties at all to the military of positions of decision making.
yeah...that's not how it worked
are you fucking serious? The arbitrary line drawn between N/S Korea (chosen by U.S. military) was a decision forced upon innocent citizens, and now those people suffer terribly at the hands of a bunch of evil fuckwits. Families were split apart, unspeakable tortures go on in labour camps, generations are basically brainwashed because NK is so cut-off from the world. Your comment makes it seems like "half the country" decided to split off and worship a dictator. Your shitty excuse of "hyperbole" doesn't even apply, shut the fuck up.
wowow wiki fail.
I'm sure that the Yangju highway incident wasn't the only reason why he rapped/sang those lyrics. American soldiers have been fucking up in Korea for a long time. That incident was probably the straw that broke the camel's back and led to him angrily venting. Whenever American soldiers do something fucked up, you bet it's all over the news in Korea (unlike here).
can someone summarize the reactions in this post for me? my spidey senses tell me it's a hot mess.
butthurt non-americans
self-hating americans
annoyingly black-and-white POVs everywhere
1% reasonable comments
2) people defend psy's expression of anti-american sentiments but say he went to far when talking about killing people (civilians like mothers, daughters, fathers, etc)
3) people saying that he's disgusting, America fuck yeah
4) people who are tired of oppa gangnam style and are happy that maybe this means we won't ever have to hear from this guy ever again
I mean ia with the rest of your comment that Americans have really no place to talk when it comes to hating on other countries/people and there's racism involved there but that's not all there is to it.