It's not all war and peace at the United Nations.
U.N. chief Ban
Ki-moon added pop music and supersonic skydiving to his agenda on
Tuesday when he met with "Gangnam Style" South Korean singer Psy and
Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner.
Psy's song "Gangnam Style," which mocks the consumerism of a rich
Seoul suburb, and hit horse-riding-style dance went viral on
video-sharing website YouTube. It has been viewed more than 530 million
times on YouTube since it was released in mid-July.
"I'm a bit jealous," Ban told reporters. "Until two days ago
someone told me I am the most famous Korean in the world. Now I have to
relinquish."
"We have a tough negotiations in the United Nations. In such a
case I was also thinking of playing 'Gangnam Style' dance so that
everybody would stop and dance, maybe you can bring U.N. style," he
said.
But while he briefly posed like he was doing Psy's trademark dance, Ban wasn't ready to attempt it.
Ban earlier on Tuesday met Baumgartner, who last week leapt into
the stratosphere from a balloon near the edge of space 24 miles above
Earth, setting a record for the highest skydive and breaking the sound
barrier in the process.
Ban asked Baumgartner if he would be able to jump from the top
floor of the United Nations headquarters, to which the skydiver replied:
"With your permission, sure." But he later added: "I'm officially
retired from the daredevil business now."
Ban hailed Baumgartner - who has made a career of risky jumps
including skydiving across the English Channel and parachuting off the
Petronas Towers in Malaysia - as "the most courageous person in the
world."
While the U.N. secretary-general deals with weighty issues such
as the conflict in Syria and crisis in Mali, he also said he believes it
is important to engage other parts of society.
"I think the music can play a very important role. I hope that we
can work together using your global reach. You have, I think,
unlimited global reach," he told Psy.
"You are so cool, I hope that you can end the global warming," Ban added.
REUTERS