K-pop star Psy: Merchandise style

Clockwise from left: pen, handkerchief, key chain, t-shirt, concert glow stick and calendar, all based on K-pop singer Psy. Provided by eBay

Online retailer eBay Korea said it has started selling “Gangnam Style” t-shirts and key chains with caricatures of Korean singer Psy, who made international news on outlets like CNN and the LA Times in the U.S. after his new single, “Gangnam Style,” went viral in July.

EBay is an online shopping site which 200 countries and two billion people use.

It launched seven items, including t-shirts, key chains, memo pads, pens, handkerchiefs, glow sticks and a calendar with a caricature of Psy depicted on each item, eBay said.

For the t-shirt, a pen to write on the clothes is also provided to replace “Gangnam” of “Gangnam Style,” by filling in any word in the blank for Gangnam.

The price of the t-shirt is $25.49, while the price of a pen is $5.10 and a calendar is $7.14. According to eBay, the t-shirt is only written in Korean and an English version will be out in two weeks.

“We only produced products for domestic customers, as we did not expect such a huge sensation worldwide,” said an employee at YG Entertainment, Psy’s agency responsible for the planning and production of the items. “We will prepare products for overseas fans as soon as possible,” he added.

YG will additionally make accessories such as hats and towels with pictures of Psy dancing his famous horse-riding dance, popular among overseas fans.

“With increase in demand of international fans, we expect to get good response on the online market as well,” said Lim Jee-hyun, sales manager at eBay Korea.

YG Entertainment and eBay Korea joined hands and launched their very own eBay store, YG Store, in June to serve as an outlet for fans overseas to purchase albums and various items.

The music video for “Gangnam Style,” released last month, racked up 49 million YouTube hits last Thursday. It also beat Justin Bieber’s “As Long as You Love Me” and Katy Perry’s “Wide Awake” to take No. 1 on the U.S. iTunes chart.

Psy appeared on the live U.S. morning show VH1’s “Big Morning Buzz Live” and taught his horse-riding dance move last Thursday, local time.

“Gangnam is a specific area in Korea that’s like Beverly Hills in the U.S. So, it is a guy who doesn’t look like he belongs in Beverly Hills and he keeps saying ‘I’m from Beverly Hills.’ That’s the point,” said Psy, when asked what the song means at the show.

By Kim Jung-yoon [kjy@joongang.co.kr]