South Korean Smashes Justin Beiber’s YouTube Record

Psy1 — South Korean Psy’s song “Gangnam style” has taken the world by storm

South Korean pop phenomenon Psy‘s Gangnam Style dance track has become YouTube’s most-watched video of all time.

The song that is currently number two on billboard’s Hot 100 has notched up more than 808m views since it was posted in July.

The video pokes fun at the consumerism of Gangnam, a well heeled suburb of the South Korean capital Seoul.

Previously, Justin Bieber’s 2010 teenybopper hit Baby held the record for the most YouTube views with 804m.

In humility, Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun was the first person in the US to tweet a link to the Gangnam Style video.

Gangnam Style, which won best video at this year’s MTV Europe Music Awards, has also been number one in 28 countries.

The portly Psy dances in the song as though he is trotting on a horse, holding the reins and spinning a lasso in a manner that has sparked a global dance craze.

Guinness World book of Records also ranks the song as most “liked” song ever – currently with a little less than 5.4m likes on YouTube.

The video also features the 34-year-old singer reclining on a sun lounger in tight pink shorts, gazing longingly at a girl dancing on an underground train in tight shorts and gesticulating at a woman working out on a beach – in tight shorts.

The dance has ignited a number of copycat versions, being performed by a diverse fan-base including Filipino prison inmates, prominent Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and a Chinese robot.

YouTube says “Gangnam Style” continues to be watched every day between 7 million and 10 million times; “Baby” gets between 350,000 and 500,000 views.