MANILA, Philippines - Psy, who skyrocketed to worldwide fame with Gangnam Style, has signed as Asiana Airline’s (OZ) new honorary ambassador. The Korean pop star, whose real name is Jae-Sang Park, has been credited for boosting Korean pop music or K-Pop’s popularity on a global scale, and helping to widely promote Korea as an international brand.
Under the agreement, Asiana will fly Psy in top-class seats to any Asiana destination worldwide for one year. In turn, the pop star will support Asiana’s internal corporate events, PR and marketing projects, and through video shoots as Asiana’s honorary ambassador for social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.
Asiana Airlines president and CEO Young-Doo Yoon welcomed Psy in a signing ceremony at the multi-awarded airline’s headquarters in Seoul. Psy had been a special guest at Asiana’s donation turnover to UNICEF in New York last year, when the airline commemorated seven billion won ($6.2M) in donations throughout its Change for Good campaign.
“We hope that this honorary ambassador appointment of Psy can help Asiana contribute to K-Pop’s growth and development, and further promote both Psy and Asiana’s brand,†said Mr. Yoon.
Psy stated, “I appreciate Asiana offering me top-class seats on all the routes it operates, to support me to do the best I can whenever and wherever. I will actively make a career all over the world this year.â€
The Korean pop performer is so popular that he has been nominated to Time’s 2013 World’s 100 Most Influential People and his Gangnam Style video has already hit over a billion views on YouTube. His new video Gentleman is fast becoming another huge hit.
Asiana Airlines, which flies to destinations across Asia, Europe and North America, is also an official sponsor of talent producer and entertainment company YG Entertainment and M-Live. Both companies are leading the K-Pop wave all over the world to enhance Korea’s national brand recognition.