Gangnam Style is a reflection on the superficial element of the Gangnum district of Seoul (akin to beverly hills or any nouveau riche area). “Oppa” (an older male friend in Korean) is a commentary on both the pretentious quest for a mate and golddigging that invariably result. Watch the original carefully, and there are numerous scenes where the initial picture painted is not how it really is: his “beach” on the playground, business associates who turn out to be gangsters, the “pool” that’s just a hot tub, wearing a tux on the toilet. The vocals include references for example to “bean paste ladies”, who would get lunch at the cheapest place in town so they can save up for $5+ boutique coffees (or even better, for their oppa to buy them).
Hard as it might be to grasp, The Atlantic writers aren’t the only people capable of comprehending social commentary. If anything, this line from the article is completely wrong: “None of this commentary is particularly overt.” It rather is given the lyrics explicitly reference the well-known social stereotypes. I can only imagine these are all new revelations to the writer himself (writing for an exclusively western audience), who didn’t know anything about Korea before researching the article.
It might also be interesting to note that PSY himself is not necessarily excluded from his own commentary given he was born into relative wealth (thus the foreign education).