In an interview on South Korea's Seoul Broadcasting System, a former teacher of Park said: "I remember Psy making a lot of sexual jokes during class.

Park told CNN's Alina Cho that when he was 15 years old, he watched a Korean TV programme that introduced foreign pop music.

One particular episode showed a concert at Wembley Stadium held by the British rock band Queen where they performed their 1975 hit single "Bohemian Rhapsody".

[9] As part of preparations to take over DI Corporation from his father, Park had originally planned to study business administration at Boston University in 1996.

[10] However, upon his arrival in the United States, he lost interest in his studies,[11] spending his remaining tuition funds on musical instruments and entertainment equipment, including a computer, an electric keyboard, and a MIDI interface.

The album's title song, "Champion", saw great success partly due to the hype from the World Cup games held in Seoul.

[24] In 2007, state prosecutors accused Psy of "neglecting" his work, holding concerts and appearing on local television networks during his period of prior employment.

Two months later, Psy was re-drafted into the military where he had held the rank of Private First Class and served as a signalman in the 52nd Army Infantry Division, before being released from duties in July 2009.

His wife encouraged him to join the South Korean music label YG Entertainment, whose founder and chief executive officer Yang Hyun-suk was an old friend of Psy's.

The K-pop singer Kim Hee-chul, from the boyband Super Junior, wished Psy had joined his group's label SM Entertainment instead.

Psy released his fifth album PsyFive in 2010, and its lead single "Right Now" was banned from under-19 audiences by South Korea's Ministry of Gender Equality and Family for what it deemed an "obscene" lyric, "Life is like toxic alcohol".

[35] On January 7, 2012, Psy performed alongside K-pop bands Bigbang and 2NE1 in front of 80,000 Japanese fans during the YG Family Concert in Osaka.

1 on the iTunes Music Video Charts, overtaking Justin Bieber's "As Long as You Love Me" and Katy Perry's "Wide Awake"; this feat was the first for a South Korean artist.

After the video went viral, celebrities quickly jumped on board, with Katy Perry, Britney Spears, and Tom Cruise taking to Twitter to share their delight.

[43] On September 14, 2012, he appeared on The Today Show on NBC in New York City, performing the song live and teaching dance moves to the anchors.

[56] The event was broadcast worldwide and hosted by the German model and actress Heidi Klum, who introduced Psy to the audience as the "undisputed King of Pop".

[57] A few days later, American singer-songwriter Madonna performed a mashup of "Gangnam Style" and "Give It 2 Me" alongside Psy and her backup dancers during a concert in New York City at Madison Square Garden during The MDNA Tour.

[101][102] On April 26, 2021, it was reported that he and Park Jin-young, the founder of JYP Entertainment, will collaborate to form a new boy group each in Loud, which premiered on June 5, 2021, on SBS.

[115][116] Psy is known for his sense of humor in his concerts, where he imitates female singers such as Park Ji-yoon, Lee Hyo-ri, Lady Gaga, and Beyoncé.

[118] Lucy Williamson from the BBC recognized Psy as South Korea's "newest and biggest music star", but also described him as "unpolished, unpredictable and he doesn't look like your typical Korean idol".

Sarah Charlton from Reuters called him a "chubby South Korean pop singer" that has found fame and popularity in a "sea of pretty K-pop stars".

[127] According to Hugo Swire, the British Minister of State for the Foreign Office, Psy's music has given the world a glimpse of the dynamism and vibrancy of modern Korea.

On April 13, 2013, Psy attended a press conference where he expressed regret about his country's conflict with North Korea and described the situation as a "tragedy".

"[146] In an interview with The Daily Beast in April 2013, Psy was asked to give his take on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's threats against South Korea and the United States, to which he replied: "Well, as an entertainer, I don't want to talk about politics.

"[147] On August 11, 2022, Psy donated ₩100 million to help those affected by the 2022 South Korean floods through the Hope Bridge Korea Disaster Relief Association.

[148] In 2002, Psy participated in an anti-American concert after a U.S. military convoy accidentally struck and killed two 14-year-old South Korean schoolgirls in the Yangju highway incident.

"[152][153] A few days later The Washington Post raised questions about the accuracy of the translation of the lyrics into English, which originated from CNN's citizen journalism initiative iReport.

[154][155] Fisher also states that the word translated "Yankee" in the CNN iReport was underplayed, with one Korean American describing the slur as a "nearly untranslatable" racist "epithet", perhaps best approximated as "foreign barbarian".

[157] Psy was invited to perform on February 11, 2013, in Penang, Malaysia for the ruling Barisan Nasional party in an attempt to reach out to young voters in the area.

Despite the controversy and calls by Malaysian citizens to cancel the concert,[159] Psy completed a Chinese New Year open house performance at Han Chiang School[160] for a crowd of 100,000.