MONTREAL—A senior Conservative cabinet minister says if it wasn’t for Canadian soldiers who risked their lives fighting communism, the world might never have had the last year of goofy unadulterated joy dancing to “Gangnam Style.”

In an interview broadcast on Radio-Canada on Sunday evening, Veteran’s Affairs Minister Steven Blaney said the viral South Korean hit song by the singer Psy would have never been possible if international forces hadn’t vigorously defended the country against communist North Korea in the war that ran from 1950 to 1953.

“We talk about Gangnam Style. There wouldn’t be a Gangnam Style if we hadn’t had the sacrifice of Canadians, members of the United Nations who came together with a resolve to ensure that we repelled communism,” he said.

Blaney’s comments in Quebec City were made at a ceremony to honour naval veterans of World War II who took part in the blockade of Nazi Germany and dodged the lethal German U-boat fleet in what is known as the Battle of the Atlantic.

A government official said the remarks came in a question-and-answer period with reporters after the event in which Blaney was providing his impressions on a recent trip to South Korea, which he described as a superpower and a democracy and where Canadians are still recognized for the efforts during the Korean War.

There was no word either on whether Canadian veterans would be saddled with responsibility for the current free fall down the musical charts that the South Korean artist’s follow up song, “Gentlemen,” has experienced in recent weeks.

Read more about: