Do we like PSY?
Our score: 7 out of 10. Nothing harmful toward LGBTQ+ people, women or the planet turned up, and there's years of quiet giving, set against a draft scandal and a small fine.
Park Jae-sang was born in Seoul on 31 December 1977 into a wealthy family: his father ran a semiconductor parts company and his mother owned upscale restaurants in Gangnam. He went to Boston to study business, ditched it for Berklee, and was hauled home when his parents found out. Berklee's president reportedly said he attended class five times.
The music career started loud. His 2001 debut earned him the nickname “The Bizarre Singer”, and his 2002 album was restricted to buyers aged 20 and over after complaints from civic groups. Then in 2012 came Gangnam Style, a YouTube megahit that made him a global name and (by his own account) a bit of a nightmare to follow.
The first big stoush was military service. He did alternative service at an IT company from 2003 to 2005, and prosecutors investigated him on suspicion of draft evasion, saying they had evidence he broke company rules on private activities during work hours. In December 2007 the Seoul Administrative Court dismissed his lawsuit and he was ordered to be redrafted for a 20-month term.
The harm check comes up mostly clean. Just before he was due to perform for the Obamas in 2012, a 2004 concert performance of anti-American lyrics surfaced; he said he deeply regretted the “inflammatory and inappropriate language” he used, though his agency said the apology covered the lyrics, not the whole concert. It was a reaction to the Iraq war, not a swipe at LGBTQ+ people or women, and we found nothing like that from him in the sources checked.
The recent thing is smaller and a bit sad. Police investigated him in 2025 over prescribed medication being collected by his manager without an in-person consult; his agency apologised, calling it a mistake and an oversight, while denying any proxy prescription. In September 2026 the Seoul Western District Court fined him 5 million won by summary order, and he was reported not to have asked for a formal trial.
The good stuff is real. In 2023 he gave 100 million won to flood recovery through Hope Bridge, and reports say he had given the same amount after the 2017 Pohang earthquake and the 2019 Gangwon wildfires. He said he would keep working on helping neighbours hit by disasters.