Gangnam Style

Seoul offers various modern lifestyles across many districts, but we unfortunately won't have time to explore them all during our five-day trip. Nevertheless, we must visit a neighborhood that gained worldwide fame through Park Jae-sang. As PSY, his 'Gangnam Style' became a huge hit and introduced K-Pop to the world. So, we head to the Gangnam district, located south of the Han River (which is also the translation of the name 'Gangnam'), known for its business skyscrapers. Here, large South Korean banks and companies are headquartered, including Samsung, and there are many expensive luxury stores, costly private educational institutions, beauty clinics, and high-end restaurants. The district epitomizes the drive for success, wealth, and luxury. PSY ironically critiques this ambition in his song, advocating for a more profound life. Thus, it serves more as a parody of the Gangnam lifestyle. However, his dance style continues to influence Korean youth even 13 years after the song's release. We stroll along Tehran Street until we reach the Trillion Tower Sculpture, which doesn’t showcase well due to a construction fence behind it. We precisely navigate to the courtyard of the skyscrapers to the Starfield Library, distinguished by its giant book walls. In the library, there are more people taking photos with their smartphones than there are those wanting to read. We head to the adjoining COEX Mall in the basement and exit back onto the street at the East entrance. There, a crowd of girls with colorful balloons has gathered. The reason: the K-Pop band 'NCT Wish' is set to perform on a makeshift stage. I’d say that’s a fitting backdrop for the Gangnam Style sculpture we’re now approaching. Suitable music at this popular photo spot sets the scene, and tourists queue up for pictures. A few enthusiastic ladies also attempt to dance in that style. I would need to drink a lot of alcohol to make such a public attempt, which I obviously won’t do now. Selfies will have to suffice. We sneak past the group of boy band fans, where the sculpture by Jeon Su-cheon, representing the famous sailor Jan Bo-go (8th/9th century), almost gets lost in the commotion. I’m actually more interested in this history than the K-Pop fan backdrop, so we escape from the masses of the younger generation to the subway station to travel to our next attraction. And until then, you can see and hear Gangnam Style here: Gangnam Style.