Korean Singer: Gangnam Style Is Web Hit

A chubby singer from South Korea has become a global internet sensation after racking up 27 million YouTube hits in less than a month.

Gangnam Style, by the performer known as Psy, became a hit in South Korea before spreading overseas.

It has now gained celebrity followers including Robbie Williams and seen coverage in publications such as the LA Times and Wall Street Journal.

The video features the unlikely pop star posing on a speedboat in a garish lifejacket, lying on the floor of a lift while a man in bermuda shorts gyrates above him and performing a trademark "horse-riding" dance.

The dance has sparked dozens of imitation clips on YouTube and social networking websites.

The song has entered the Billboard Social 50 - a chart that ranks the most popular artists on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Vevo and Myspace - and Psy is preparing for a string of media appearances and a meeting with Justin Bieber's producer in the US.

In South Korea the song is seen as a humorous send-up of the country's bland K-Pop genre.

The title refers to the lavish lifestyles of residents of the Gangnam district in South Korea's capital, Seoul.

Psy, who has had little international success during a 10-year career, admits he has been taken aback by the song's success.

He told the Wall Street Journal: "I didn't expect it at all. Of course every time I write a song, I hope people like my music.

"But since I've been always a singer for the local market, it never occurred to me that people outside the country would listen to my music.

"I didn't even have overseas fans. When I wrote the song, I had only one thing in mind - to create a fun song."