A 2010 hit song by Psy, the South Korean rapper-singer who rose to worldwide fame with "Gangnam Style," will no longer be on the government list of songs harmful to youth, officials said Wednesday.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said its committee for identifying pop songs considered harmful to youth has decided to lift a strict age restriction on "Right Now" and several other hit songs under a new rule for screening that went into effect earlier this month.
Boosted by the explosive popularity of his latest hit single "Gangnam Style," the music video for "Right Now" has also gained much attention on YouTube, drawing more than 4.2 million views.
However, access to the video is limited for minors as the ministry in charge of protecting youth labeled it harmful to them due to vulgar language in its lyrics.
The removal from the list comes amid mounting demands from Psy's fans and other local Internet users that the song should get a chance to be exposed to world music fans.
Last month, a group of South Korean netizens filed a petition on the "Agora" bulletin board of the local Internet portal Daum with the ministry, arguing that the video of "Right Now" faces difficulty in attracting more views due to the "adult-only" rating voluntarily granted by Psy's side in line with the government designation.
Psy remains at No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard's Hot 100 chart, a coveted record for an Asian artist.
The ministry re-screened 250 songs, including "Right Now," based on the changed standards that songs will be declared harmful to youth when they contain lyrics directly encouraging drinking or smoking or justifying violent, sexual or aberrant behaviors after drinking. (Yonhap)
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