Gangnam Style

(CNN) -- The new North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has brought Disney characters and fun fairs to the images disseminated by the secretive regime's state media. The question now is whether his rule has also added a touch of South Korean pop culture.

A video published on www.uriminzokkiri.com, a North Korean government website, draws on imagery from the highly successful pop video "Gangnam Style" by the rapper PSY to poke fun at a South Korean presidential candidate.

The North Korean video starts with a picture showing a person apparently in the midst of performing the world famous horse dance from "Gangnam Style." The face stuck on the dancing figure is that of Park Geun-hye, the candidate for the governing Saenuri Party in the upcoming South Korean presidential election.

The video goes on to mockingly evoke Park's support for the past actions of her father, Park Jung-hee, South Korea's former dictator whose legacy still divides the nation.

The military dictator who went on to win elections was behind the rapid economic growth of South Korea during the 1960s, following the Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to1953 and devastated the peninsula. Supporters say he economically transformed the country, but critics say he disregarded democracy to do so and committed human rights abuses.

Set to an upbeat 1960s big band instrumental soundtrack, the video includes images from the era of Park Jung-hee's rule.

The video shows the hallmarks of North Korean production. It was not clear when it had been uploaded to the official North Korea site, or by whom.

Park Geun-hye has said she will focus on welfare policies if she is elected in the presidential elections in December and will engage with North Korea if Pyongyang abandons its nuclear weapons program.

The hit video for PSY's "Gangnam Style" has been viewed more then 220 million times on YouTube since it was uploaded in July, garnering fame for the rapper around the globe.

full article...