Top Google searches in Korea for 2018

Google has released their end of year top search terms for Korea for 2018. Here they are, along with some of my own basic commentary.

Top Google search terms in Korea 2018 - Overall, People, News. Image: Google

2018년 구글 인기검색어 종합 순위 한국 TOP 10위

Top 10 overall most popular Google search terms in Korea 2018

1. 로스트아크
   Lost Ark
   MMOARPG type game, sort of like Diablo. The game finally launched in November after massive delays (like 7 years of delays). To me the fact that this became the #1 Google term shows which type of Koreans use Google instead of Naver.
2. 월드컵
   World Cup
3. 김비서가 왜 그럴까
   What's Wrong with Secretary Kim
   Popular drama starring 박서준 based on a romance novel. He also had a popular appearance on a cooking show (윤 식당) earlier this year. And has been in every single damn commercial in Korea. In the show his secretary 박민영 has to deal with him being cold on the outside but warm on the inside (i.e. Korean women's, maybe every woman's, ideal man type).
4. 외모지상주의
   Lookism
   The ever-popular webtoon that's made it to the top-10 list every year for like 5 years now.
5. 평창올림픽
   Pyeongchang Olympics
   Winter olympics were held in Korea this year. I made a few posts about it here: 10원 Tips: PyeongChang2018
6. 신과함께
   Along with the Gods
   A popular movie based on a webtoon. Touching, powerful, and at times humorous. Pretty complicated "afterlife redemption" type plot drawing from religion and shamanism. 
7. 비트코인
   Bitcoin
8. 태풍 경로
   Predicted path of typhoon
   People must have been searching this term to find out how bad the typhoon would be and when it would hit. It probably refers to Typhoon Kong-rey which was hyped to be huge but wasn't really that bad.
9. 하트시그널 2
   Heart Signal season 2
   Reality show sort of like Big Brother. Throw equal numbers of attractive men and women in a house and make them do stuff together. I.e. every Korean variety show ever.
10. 논산 여교사
    Nonsan female teacher
    Very juicy news story about a female teacher having sex with her students. Despite being married, she got into a heavy sexual relationship with a male student. But it gets worse. The boy's friend found out, and actually blackmailed the teacher into having sex with him too or he'd expose it. Somehow or other the husband found out, and ended up suing the blackmailer boy haha. You can find snapshots of the teacher-student Kakao chats online. They are simultaneously kind of hot, kind of cute, and kind of sad. 

영화 - Top 10 movie searches for 2018

I only saw two of these movies (1 Korean, 1 Marvel) so I don't know a whole lot about them. You can look them all up online.

1. 신과함께
   Along with the Gods. Same as above.
2. 마녀
   The Witch
   Korean sci-thriller movie, vaguely similar plot to the Scarlett Johansson movie "Lucy" or similar "you made me this way; now I'll turn on you and take revenge" type movies
3. 블랙 팬서
   Black Panther (Marvel movie)
4. 보헤미안 랩소디
   Bohemian Rhapsody. Koreans love musical based movies, and tend to have this idea that all Westerners can sing so well.
5. 데드풀 2
   Deadpool 2 (Marvel movie)
6. 너의 결혼식
   Your Wedding, or "On Your Wedding Day" (Korean movie)
7. 독전
   Believer (Korean crime movie)
8. 상류사회
   High Society
   Korean movie sort of like "Eyes Wide Shut" or "50 Shades of Grey." Was hyped as an overtly sexual look at the corrupt and filthy lives of the upper classes where anything, even love and sex, is bought and sold. Apparently includes a graphic sex scene with a Japanese AV star (하마사키 마오 if my sleuthing is right). Yet spectacularly, the film was critiqued as as pure fluff and titillation, with no substance, and considered possibly one of the worst Korean movies ever made.
9. 곤지암
   Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum
   Korean horror movie sort of like the Blair Witch Project in its use of handheld camera and spooky setting
10. 데드풀
    Deadpool (Marvel movie)

국내 뉴스/이슈 - Top 10 domestic news/issue searches 2018

1. 비트코인
   Bitcoin
2. 태풍 경로
   Typhoon path. Same as above
3. 논산 여교사
   Nonsan female teacher. Same as above
4. 가상화폐
   Virtual money / crypto-currency
5. 드루킹
   Druking
   Name of a blogger who organized massive online propaganda operation against Park Gyeun-hye and was-he-wasn't-he working on behalf of Moon Jae-in, but when President Moon failed to "pay" him with a promised political position, Druking went rogue and reverted his online apparatus to attack Moon. Fascinating story.
6. 이수역 폭행
   Isu Station attack
   Another wild reversal story. Two women in a bar apparently attacked verbally then physically for being feminists. Led to a massive online petition to punish the men. Later revealed that the women may have been responsible for instigating and warping the story to appear the victims. Video released was pretty funny; the two women are verbally assaulting the men basically just for being men, accusing them of being typical small-dicked loser Korean men, then refusing to leave and causing a scene. Your opinion of the story partly will depend on your leanings. Some women saw a typical chauvinist backlash against outspoken feminists, some men saw typical out-of-control feminazis.
7. 인면조
   Inmyeonjo
   Mythical bird creature with human face, probably famous for appearing in the opening ceremony of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. 
8. 학교 폭력 실태 조사
   Survey on School Violence
   Government-conducted survey on prevalence of school violence
9. 남북 정상 회담
   North-South Korea Summit
   Big year for North-South relations, especially with President Moon visiting the North, the first time since Kim Dae-jung.
10. 미투운동
    #MeToo movement

인물 - Top searched people / newsmakers for 2018

1. 조민기
   Acting professor at a university, called out for inappropriate behavior by the #MeToo movement and ended up committing suicide.
2. 구하라
   Member of girl group KARA famous this year for a very public domestic violence case that went back-and-forth between her and her boyfriend. Who was the real instigator and the real victim? Lot of he-said, she-said with the public ogling every step.
3. 노회찬
   Left-wing activist politician, famous for his clean image and anti-corruption stance on behalf of the people, involved in the Druking scandal and revealed to have been taking money and nearly as corrupt as his enemies. He committed suicide this year after the revelations.
4. 판빙빙
   Chinese actress who mysteriously disappeared for months, with speculation that she had been secretly murdered or imprisoned by the Chinese government for tax evasion.
5. 김보름
   South Korean Olympic speed skater made famous for her apparent bullying and outcasting of a fellow team mate. She gave a tearful apology but some refuse to believe it was genuine.
6. 구하라 남친
   Goo Hara's boyfriend. See #2 above.
7. 신성일
   Legendary actor famous for years of quality performances. He passed away this year.
8. 정현
   Male Korean tennis player. Impressive because Koreans are not usually associated with tennis and he has this "self-help" attitude. He made it into the semifinals of Australian Open.
9. 프레디 머큐리
   Freddy Mercury
10. 이재명
    Lee Jae-myung. There is so much news about him it could fill a novel. High ranked politician involved in a number of scandals and potential corruption issues. The latest was his wife's secret Twitter account, in which she bad-mouthed President Moon and others, while praising them with her public face. To me the interesting things in this guy's issues are how divided, back stabbing, and cut throat people are within the same party. 

Top Google search terms in Korea 2018 - TV, Games, Sports. Image: Google

For the next section, the fact is I don't watch much Korean TV, I don't do much gaming, and I'm not a big sports fan. So there's not much I can contribute here. I'll just share the lists and leave it up to you. Most of these if you Google them you'll get English results in Google's onebox results.

TV 프로그램 - Top searched TV programs 2018

1. 김비서가 왜 그럴까
2. 하트시그널 2
3. 프로듀스 48
4. 슬기로운 감빵생활
5. 내 아이디는 강남미인
6. 신서유기 5·6
7. 미스터 션샤인
8. 윤식당 2
9. 황금빛 내 인생
10. 뷰티 인사이드

게임 - Top searched games 2018

1. 로스트아크
2. 소울워커
3. 듀랑고
4. 메이플스토리
5. 두근 두근 문예부
6. 피파 온라인 4
7. 천애명월도
8. 리니지M
9. 몬스터 헌터: 월드
10. 검은사막 모바일

스포츠 - Top searched sports terms 2018

1. 월드컵
2. 평창올림픽
3. 아시안게임 축구
4. 컬링
5. 아시안게임
6. 크로아티아
7. 한국시리즈
8. 매스 스타트
9. 베트남 축구
10. 스켈레톤

You can browse the list for Korea (and other countries) here:
https://trends.google.com/trends/yis/2018/KR/

And you can see the other lists for this year or prior years here:
10원 Tips: Years in Review

Thanks for reading and have a good new year everybody.