Psy knocked from top of Korean charts by 63-year-old singer

South Korean rapper Psy poses during a news conference before his concert in Seoul April 13, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Lee Jae-Won

SEOUL | Thu Apr 25, 2013 5:06am EDT

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean rapper Psy, whose latest video "Gentleman" tracked global megahit "Gangnam Style" by going viral on the Internet, has been knocked from the top of the music charts in his native country by a 63-year-old easy listening pop singer.

"Gangnam Style", which holds the YouTube record for most views with more than 1.5 billion, catapulted the sunglassed Korean with the garish jackets to world stardom and made him one of the best-known faces to grace the growing K-pop music scene.

But Cho Yong-pil, who has been a fixture of Korean pop music since 1975 with his electronic music and ballads, took over the top spot in Korea with "Bounce," according to both the daily and weekly charts on Naver, Korea's top Internet portal.

Fans lined up to buy "Hello," Cho's first album in a decade, when it went on sale earlier this week, and packed a stadium concert on Tuesday with people screaming his nickname of "Oppa" - a word used by Korean women for older men that Psy took to the world with the refrain "Oppa Gangnam Style".

Cho's songs took the top 10 places on the daily charts, pushing "Gentleman" to no. 13, and Psy had to settle for second place on the weekly charts.

But "Gentleman" surged to fifth place on the Billboard Hot 100 this week and has racked up over 220 million views on YouTube after smashing the record for first-day views for songs.

Psy told reporters he had nothing but respect for the veteran crooner, noting that Cho had praised him at a Tuesday news conference.

"I couldn't be happier, although getting on the Billboard chart also makes me really grateful," Psy told reporters on Thursday prior to leaving for the United States.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Elaine Lies)

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Korean Christians aim to stop Lady Gaga's "pornographic" show

Christians attend a prayer meeting against the concert of U.S. singer Lady Gaga, in front of the Olympic stadium in Seoul April 27, 2012. Christian groups called for a boycott of her show, which they say promotes homosexuality.

Credit: Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji

By Ju-min Park

SEOUL | Fri Apr 27, 2012 3:24pm EDT

SEOUL (Reuters) - Christian groups in South Korea called on Friday for pop icon Lady Gaga to cancel her concert here saying it was "pornographic" and promoted homosexuality.

South Korea's government has already bowed to public pressure and banned under-18s from attending the 26-year old's concert, but protesters gathered outside the venue said that was not enough.

"Some people can accept this as another culture but its impact is huge beyond art and debases religions. Even adults can't see her performance which is too homosexual and pornographic," said Yoon Jung-hoon, a reverend who organized the "Civilians Network against the Lady Gaga Concert".

The singer's hit song "Born This Way" celebrates the empowerment of gay men and women, something that many in South Korea, which is the second most Christian country in Asia after the Philippines, say is an immoral lifestyle.

Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, has been in Seoul for close on a week as she kicks off her Asian "Born this Way" tour.

"Nervous for tonight. Hope I make little monsters happy and proud," she Tweeted a few hours before the concert kicked off.

Yoon's group claims to have collected 5,000 supporters on Facebook against the concert and some have also called for a boycott of the sponsor Hyundai Card. The protesters have also threatened a boycott of its parent company, Hyundai Motor Co, South Korea's largest car-maker.

"The Christian Council of Korea with 12 million Christians and 55,000 churches will take all kinds of measures such as boycotting Hyundai Card to root out this kind of obscene culture," the council said in a statement.

Yoon said he would attend the concert to "monitor" the performance for homosexual content that could corrupt young people.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by David Chance and Sanjeev Miglani)

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