Thousands of protesters gathered in South Korea to protest against nuclear testing carried out earlier this year by North Korea. Dressed in suits and ties, some donning masks of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s face, a group of protesters copied the dance moves of Korean rapper Psy to the tune of his worldwide hit ‘Gangnam Style.’
A banner featuring the leader’s face was also placed on the ground and demonstrators proceeded to stomp over it, while an effigy of Jong-un and a North Korean flag were both set on fire during the rally.
‘We are here to urge Kim Jong-un to get out of this nuclear fantasy and to cooperate with the international community as quickly as possible,’ President of the Korea Freedom Foundation Park Chang-dal told The Guardian.
North Korea has received much international criticism after it was revealed that they had performed a nuclear test which defied UN resolutions earlier last month. Experts and South Korean officials estimate that the test was bigger than previous blasts, reaching 5.1 in magnitude.
‘When it becomes greater than five there is a good chance a lot of seismographic stations throughout the world will be able to record it,’ seismologist Won-Young Kim told VOA News.
Despite the severe international criticism, North Korea maintains that the tests have been conducted in self defence.
‘The nuclear test was conducted as part of measures to protect our national security and sovereignty against the reckless hostility of the United States that violated our republic’s right for a peaceful satellite launch,’ the Korean Central News Agency said.
Although South Korea has remained typically quiet on North Korean issues, this appears to have changed more recently particularly since the inauguration of South Korean President Park Geun-hye. Following the news of the nuclear tests carried out by North Korea, South Korea has responded by accelerating the development of longer-range ballistic missiles that could cover the whole of North Korea. They have also put their support behind a United Nations investigation into human rights abuses committed by North Korea.
Funnily enough, this isn’t the first time a country has used Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’ as part of a protest. In January, a group of Chinese workers also danced Psy’s infamous ‘horse-riding’ dance outside a nightclub they had built, in protest of their unpaid wages. Earlier this week, a group of Chinese youths also used the song to create a parody video protesting the Communist party’s campaign to dig up millions of graveyards.
