South Korea: Random Facts

Something that surprises the eye of the tourist when they visit Seoul is that it is a city of contrasts: the most avant-garde skyscrapers coexist in the same space with the most traditional oriental palaces.

South Korea is one of the world's most-wired nations: out of a population of some 50 million, 31 million smartphone users and nearly 20 million users of either Facebook or Twitter.

Seoul is the second most populated city in the world.

The reason why Seoul has to grow either upwards or downwards is because it is surrounded by mountains. This peculiarity has led to the subterranean markets that are so popular in Seoul.

Marrying foreigners has become a trend among South Koreans. It is mostly South Korean women the ones who marry foreigners.

South American soap operas are very popular in South Korea.

The average age to marry has increased in the past few years.

Everything –shops, restaurants- are open and running 24/7, unlike Europe.

Tae Kwando is originally from Korea. In the last Olympic games, Korea has won with gold medal.

South Korean education system is one of the most effective at a global level.

Just like that famous U2 song from the 80s, Seoul's streets have no name. Perhaps the city served the band as an inspiration for one of the best songs ever written.

Lotte World is one of the most emblematic shopping centres in Seoul. This major recreation complex consists of the world's largest indoor theme park (a Guinness World Record), an outdoor amusement park called "Magic Island", an artificial island inside a lake linked by monorail, ice rink, shopping malls, a luxury hotel, a Korean folk museum, sports facilities, and movies theatres. Lotte World receives over 8 million visitors yearly and is considered one of the most prominent theme parks in Asia.

The N Seoul Tower marks the highest point in the city.

K-pop star Rain in military faces punishment

South Korean pop star Rain, who embarked on two years of military service in 2011, is facing possible military punishment for meeting with a famous Korean actress while on duty during his military service.

According to South Korea's defence ministry, the 30 year-old -whose official name is Jung Ji-hoon- met with actress Kim Taw-hee at least three times last year. These rendezvous break the rules that forbid Rain from having private meetings when he is off-base on official military business, which included recording and performing for the military's entertainment corps. Also, Rain allegedly violated army regulations by not wearing his military cap when he was off-base.

Incriminating pictures taken by paparazzi caused a public outcry and thousands signed an online petition calling for an investigation into preferential treatment. Rain is serving mandatory service required of all abled-bodied South Korean men for two or three years, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Technically, South Korea is still at war with the North since the conflict was ended by a ceasefire and not a peace treaty.

As to his dating with Kim Tae-hee, Rain's agents have not confirmed nor denied the romance, yet Kim's management agency said in a statement that the 32-year-old actress has been dating Rain for a month.

According to the ministry, the pop star Rain has admitted that he broke the rules and said he will practice "self-restraint."

Rain is expected to be discharged on July 10 this year, excepting any punishment that might extend his service time like it happened to Psy –known for his phenomenal hit Gangnam Style- who was forced to repeat his military service for reportedly neglecting his duties.

Rain began his career in 2002 and became part of the Korean Wave of drama and popular music and has spread in Asia. He won the top spot in the 2001 TIME 100 poll and his 2004 album It's Raining sold 1m copies and he appeared in several movies, including Hollywood production Speed Racer in 2008.

Gangnam Style: Psy's Out-of-this-world Phenomenon

Hey sexy lady... With his horse, reins and lasso, Psy has not only attracted that stylish girl but prompted masses to gallop across the planet and in space.

Gangnam Style has become the first video to clock up more than one billion views on YouTube. YouTube's owner, Google, said the video had been watched seven million to 10 million times a day on average. To the joy of many, the music video overtook the previous record holder, teenage sensation Justin Bieber's music video Baby on November 24th last year. Likewise, "Gangnam Style" clip holds the Guinness World Record for the most "liked" song ever. Even Nasa's Johnson Space Center gave wide attention to this video. A true sensation!

The South Korean dance track has sparked hundreds of copycat clips, from members of the British army, Thai navy and Minecraft gamers, among others. One outstanding video is called "Psy- London style", and it imitates the original music video but instead it is recorded in London. A commemorative video "Rewind YouTube Style 2012" also focuses mainly on Psy's hit. Likewise, it has prompted the upload of countless parodies of the music video, plus dance tutorials to learn Psy's wiggle hip dance. One industry watcher said that having so many people continuously posting their own versions of Gangnam Style had played a huge part in the clip's success.

"Psy's success is a great testament to the universal appeal of catchy music – and er, great equine dance moves," wrote Kevin Allocca, YouTube trends manager, on the service's blog.

"I've seen a statistic which reckons the one song will have generated something like $8m by the end of the year from money that comes directly from YouTube through advertising plus download sales, its uses in adverts and TV programmes," Chris Cooke, business editor of the CMU music news site, told the BBC.

"It shows that YouTube –which is a free-to-use as a promotional platform for the music labels – can lead to substantial income. Should every artist be trying to think of a funny video that will go viral and be mimicked? I don't know whether it's a template that can be copied, but it certainly shows how quickly an eye-catching clip can spread thanks to social networks and YouTube."

On an episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, with relevant guests from the showbiz such as Britney Spears and Simon Cowell, Psy was invited as a surprise to teach Britney Spears the horse dance since she had previously tweeted she wanted to learn it.

Psy will go it alone on "Gangnam Style" Follow Up

It wasn't enough to create a worldwide global army of fans bewitched by the "Gangnam Style"; no, Psy is coming back for more expecting to follow the success of his popular hit, and he will be doing it alone.

After his performance on "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' eve", he told MTV News that he was "ending" the song, because it "became too popular". "I'm thinking of doing it by myself", said the South Korean idol about the follow-up single, which –according to Psy- will put him front and centre.

"I don't think I'll be doing any collaborations until my new track is done, and it's not done yet, but I'm thinking of doing it by myself, so I can prove I can do it one more time," Psy told MTV News. "And I'm working hard on it, because I've got to be good with the track and the video, and I've got to be able to perform it on the stage."

Therefore, it looks like there will be no collaboration with Diplo and 2 Chainz after all, though he has been taking inspiration from a few of his pop contemporaries.

"I really like (Rihanna's) ‘We Found Love,' and these days I've been listening to ‘Scream & Shout' by will.i.am and Britney Spears," he said. "And, of course, all year, I have liked what Usher has done, too".

Psy knows it will be hard to match "Gangnam Style" success, yet he views that pressure as a good thing since he hopes to become a genuine K-pop pioneer this year.

"If you look at K-pop, it's kind of popular around the world, but it is known for some skinny boys and pretty girls", he said. "So I'm proud to be here without that skinny body. If I can do it, anybody can".