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Video games, professional baseball and television dominated South Korea’s real-time Google searches on Sept. 19, reflecting interest in a major gaming convention, a tightening pennant race and the opening of the 2026 Asian Games.
Google Trends listed Nexon, professional baseball and the Korean word for “game” as the top three rising search terms. The rankings measure how quickly interest is increasing, not total search volume. Google’s figures are approximate, which explains why lower-ranked terms such as Naver showed more searches than Nexon.
Nexon Draws Crowds at Tokyo Game Show
Nexon topped the list with more than 100 searches as attention turned to “PAREIDOLIA,” a new title the South Korean gaming company presented at Tokyo Game Show 2026.
Nexon’s exhibition recreated Tasogare Hall, a location from the game, and offered playable demonstrations. Wait times exceeded two hours during the convention’s public days, helping drive online interest.
Roblox ranked fourth with more than 100 searches. Interest centered on plans for a movie based on the horror-survival game “99 Nights in the Forest,” as well as “The Hunt: Roblox 20,” an event marking the platform’s 20th anniversary that began Sept. 17. Roblox allows users to create and share their own interactive experiences.
KBO Pennant Race Tightens
Professional baseball placed second with more than 200 searches as the 2026 Korea Baseball Organization season entered a closely watched stretch. The KBO is South Korea’s top professional baseball league.
Samsung defeated Hanwha 10-4 behind five RBIs from Koo Ja-wook, moving to within 1.5 games of first place. Fans searched for league standings, remaining schedules and Sept. 19 matchups involving Hanwha and LG, as well as Samsung and Lotte.
Asian Games Ceremony Sparks Interest
The broad search term “game” ranked third with more than 5,000 searches, largely driven by coverage of the opening ceremony for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games and news about South Korea’s delegation.
Table tennis player Shin Yu-bin and Kim Dong-yong carried the South Korean flag as the delegation entered the ceremony. A uniform error also drew attention after the national flag was printed upside down on the outfit worn by baseball team captain Noh Si-hwan.
Television, Weddings and Politics Round Out List
The KBS reality program “Mr. House Husband” ranked fifth with more than 200 searches ahead of an episode featuring singer Park Seo-jin’s mother and his sister, Park Hyo-jung, playing park golf. The sport is a simplified form of golf popular as a recreational activity in South Korea.
Actor Ji Jin-hee ranked 10th with more than 100 searches after appearing on the variety show “Fresh Off the Sea 3.” He visited actress Yum Jung-ah and ended up taking part in physically demanding fishing work.
The Korean term for cash wedding gifts ranked sixth with more than 100 searches. Giving money in an envelope is customary at Korean weddings. Searches rose after six people were referred to prosecutors on allegations that they posed as guests, falsely claimed they had already contributed money and collected meal tickets and return gifts.
“Fundamentals” placed seventh with more than 200 searches amid discussion of a short-term rebound in the dollar-won exchange rate and forecasts that it could later fall into the 1,200-won range.
Naver, South Korea’s leading internet portal, ranked eighth with more than 10,000 searches as reports focused on defense-related artificial intelligence and a next-generation military command-and-control project.
“South Korea’s justice minister” ranked ninth with more than 200 searches. Interest centered on questions involving children whose national resident registration numbers remain incomplete and the issue of “Kopino” children, a term used in South Korea for children of Korean and Filipino parentage.
The rankings and approximate search volumes came from Google Trends’ real-time data for South Korea on Sept. 19, 2026.
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