Image to help understand the article
Holiday scams top search interest
Phishing warnings, BTS member Jimin and questions about the origin of meat were among South Korea’s fastest-rising Google searches on Sept. 26, as holiday safety concerns competed with sports, entertainment and financial news for public attention.
Google Trends ranked “phishing” first, followed by “Jimin,” “meat,” “investment,” Chinese table tennis player Wang Manyu, the LPGA, a Kiwoom-KT baseball game, the GTX-C commuter rail project, festivals and an LG-KIA baseball matchup. The rankings measure the rate of growth rather than total search volume, meaning lower-volume terms can place ahead of more widely searched topics.
Interest in phishing rose ahead of Chuseok, Korea’s major fall holiday, when increased family communication, deliveries and payment notices can give scammers more opportunities. Cybersecurity company ESTsecurity identified deepfake video calls, cloned voices, AI-generated personalized messages and account theft as major threats. Reports also warned of “letter phishing,” in which victims call numbers printed on notices or stickers left outside their homes. South Korea’s National Police Agency issued an official warning about the practice in April 2025.
Fraudulent social media accounts have also impersonated Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong while offering investment advice. Data provided by the Financial Supervisory Service to lawmaker Seo Il-jun’s office showed 6,769 investment-scam phishing cases in the first quarter, with losses totaling 181.7 billion won. Last year, 11,468 cases caused 391.6 billion won in losses.
Jimin appears in ‘parasocial’ explainer
Jimin drew attention after appearing indirectly in an infographic connected to Merriam-Webster’s coverage of emerging vocabulary. Pictoline, a Mexico-based Spanish-language visual information outlet, used a blond, long-haired character wearing a jacket marked “JIMIN” to explain “parasocial,” a term describing a one-sided relationship audiences may feel with a celebrity or media figure.
The reference reflected the global reach of BTS and its fandom. Separately, the Korean Business Research Institute ranked BTS third in its September singer brand reputation list, with an index of 5,387,142, down from 6,627,924 the previous month.
Food origins and investment returns draw interest
Searches for meat rose amid reports questioning whether consumers could trust country-of-origin labels on products received as Chuseok gifts. Investment-related searches were driven by comparisons of how 100 million won placed in different assets a decade ago would have performed. Reports said an investment in Nvidia would have grown to 13.8 billion won, while the same amount invested in a Gangnam apartment would be worth 290 million won. One analysis said Korean semiconductor-related stocks had increased 47-fold over the period.
Cryptocurrency coverage also contributed to interest. U.S. spot Ether exchange-traded funds recorded $87 million in net inflows in one day, extending their streak to six trading sessions. BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust accounted for $50.4 million, and none of the tracked funds recorded an outflow that day.
Asian Games and domestic baseball fill sports searches
Wang Manyu, China’s top-ranked women’s table tennis player and an Olympic team gold medalist, defeated South Korea’s Shin Yu-bin 4-0 in the women’s singles quarterfinals at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. Shin had swept Kazakhstan’s Zauresh Akasheva in the round of 16 but missed a singles medal after earning bronzes in mixed doubles and the women’s team event. She was also pursuing a second consecutive Asian Games women’s doubles title with new partner Joo Cheon-hui.
In golf, searches followed the LPGA Tour’s NW Arkansas Championship, where England’s Charley Hull moved near the early lead after recovering from health problems following the Solheim Cup. Japan’s Yuna Nishimura also took an early lead, while Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow, Leona Maguire and Lauren Walsh opened with under-par rounds.
Korean professional baseball also featured prominently. KT’s Ko Young-pyo, unbeaten with seven wins in the season’s second half, started against Kiwoom’s An Woo-jin in Suwon, where Kiwoom’s Park Chan-hyuk scored the opening run. LG and KIA were preparing for a two-game weekend series with third place at stake. KIA remained in contention for direct entry to the semifinal playoff round, while LG faced a demanding stretch of eight consecutive games.
Rail investment and an international festival
The GTX-C high-speed commuter rail line serving the greater Seoul area returned to public attention after securing 3.8 trillion won in financing, ending a six-year search for investment. Interest focused on communities expected to gain travel times of roughly 20 minutes to Seoul’s Gangnam district. Reports also highlighted Osan Heritage Xi, a planned 1,783-home development connecting the Byeongjeom and Dongtan areas.
In Andong, 27 performance groups from 23 countries joined the Andong International Mask Dance Festival, bringing traditional and contemporary dance to the city through Oct. 4.
Comments
Post a Comment