Gangnam Style star Psy issues apology after arrest over prescription drugs

South Korean rapper and singer Psy has issued an apology following his arrest on suspicion of illegally obtaining prescription pills.

The 47-year-old artist, who shot to global fame in 2012 with “Gangnam Style,” was detained along with his doctor and taken to Seoul Seodaemun police station Thursday.

Psy, real name Park Jae-sang, is currently under investigation over allegations that, since 2022, he has sent third parties, including his manager, to pick up his prescription drugs without face-to-face doctor consultations, according to local outlet Yonhap News Agency.

Among the drugs he’s alleged to have illegally procured are Xanax and Stilnox, which are prescribed to treat anxiety and insomnia. Both are considered habit-forming drugs, and South Korea requires in-person hospital visits for patients seeking these kinds of medications.

His doctor has denied the accusations, claiming that he treated Psy remotely, per Yonhap.

Psy’s agency, P Nation, which he founded in 2018, has released a statement regarding the police probe.

“Having had a third party collect a prescription-only sleeping medication on his behalf was clearly a mistake and an oversight,” they acknowledged.

“We apologize. PSY has been diagnosed with a chronic sleep disorder and has been taking sleeping medication in accordance with his medical team’s prescription,” they added.

“His use of sleeping medication has been under medical supervision and within the prescribed dosage, and there was no proxy prescribing.”

Though best known for his 2012 viral single “Gangnam Style,” Psy has been releasing music for much longer. In 2001, he put out his debut record, PSY From The Psycho World!. He’s since released eight more studio albums, including Ssa2 (2002), 3 Mai (2002), Ssajib (2006), PsyFive (2010), Chiljip Psy-da (2010), 4X2=8 (2017), and Psy 9th (2022).

In a 2022 interview with The Associated Press, Psy described his latest album as a “farewell to ‘Gangnam Style’.”

Of why it took him five years to deliver the album, he explained: “One can’t satisfy everyone. People’s taste is subjective. But if I let someone listen to my music and even if that person isn’t from the industry, if that person says, ‘This is not that great,’ I make a change.

“There are 40 to 50 people I play my music to when it’s ready. Until they collectively say, ‘This is the best it can get,’ I search for the song. So... I also make a lot of changes,” he said.

“Our artists find this difficult when working with me, and I want to change the habit, but it’s hard to correct it. When I make music, I listen to it on a cellphone speaker, on a big speaker, and do my best to try to find a fault... I kill many songs, and I’ve been in that process for a long time.”