PSY Receives Highest Honor From The Corea Image Communication Institute For Promoting Hallyu

by M.R. Aguilar / Jan 15, 2016 09:58 AM EST

PSY Receives Highest Honor From The Corea Image Communication Institute (Photo by Chung Sung Jun/Getty Images)

Psy, one of the biggest K-pop icon in the industry today received the Stepping Stone Award, which is considered as the highest honor bestowed by The Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI) during its 12th annual award ceremony. CICI Korea 2016 was held at the Coex Hotel InterContinental, Southern Seoul, Korea Times reported.

CICI, headed by Professor Choi Jung Hwa, organoized the annual ceremony to recognize people who have greatly contributed to the promotion of Korean culture overseas.

The pop icon was given the award for promoting the "creativity of hallyu," according to a report by The Korea Herald. The performer's viral hit single, "Gangnam Style," holds the world record for being YouTube's most watched video.

In a statement from Choi, he said that "Psy's phenomenal hit is a classic example of the creativity of hallyu, or the Korean wave, that showed contemporary and dynamic paradigms to experience Korean Culture using new media, like YouTube."

Psy believes as an artist that the "competitiveness of hallyu lay in its fierce intensity and careful detail". He added that the first goal of artists is to be popular among the Korean public, which has set high standards.

In his acceptance speech, he said that receiving such an honorable award like the one given by CICI sometimes comes as a burden to him. Seeing a bright future for K-pop, the performer plans to continue his career in the music industry for as long as possible also because it's what he loves doing.

This year's ceremony had over 700 international and local opinion leaders on the guest list. Some big names who attended the event are former Prime Minister Han Seung Soo and National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee Chairwoman Na Kyung Won.

CICI has been hosting various activities in South Korea and abroad. Their annual events, such as "CICI Korea" and "Culture Communication Forum", aim to present the true essence of South Korean culture that promotes and preserves both tradition and modernity.