Baseball Star Reyes Leads South Korea’s Top Trending Searches as Sports, Science and Wildlife Draw Attention
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롯데 자이언츠’ Reyes Tops South Korea’s Google Trending List
Venezuela-born outfielder Victor Reyes of the Lotte Giants was the most rapidly rising search term on Google Korea on Oct. 9, according to Google Trends data. Reyes drew attention after recording his 204th hit of the season, tying kt Wiz outfielder Choi Won-jun for the most hits in the KBO League this season.
Reyes went 1-for-3 with two RBIs as Lotte defeated the LG Twins 9-1 at Busan’s Sajik Stadium. The hit came in the eighth inning and helped put him level with Choi in the season hit race. Reyes previously won the KBO Golden Glove award for outfielders in 2025.
Research Institute Audit Becomes Second Most Searched Topic
The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS), a government-funded institution responsible for measurement standards, ranked No. 2 on the trending list.
The National Research Council of Science and Technology’s audit committee reported that 11 employees had improperly processed 178 expense settlements between May 2018 and September 2025, totaling about 131.77 million won. The audit said some purchases were falsely documented as items such as printer toner after goods were taken on credit from an internal store.
The report said specific personal-use spending confirmed for four employees totaled 5.704 million won, including purchases such as liquor and Lego products. The audit also found that KRISS had not conducted an internal store accounting audit for 10 years and that the locations of 2,914 standard materials could not be confirmed. The committee requested demotions for two senior researchers.
Red Panda Cubs and Baseball News Also Capture Attention
Red pandas ranked third among Korea’s rapidly rising searches after Seoul Grand Park announced it would begin displaying the country’s first naturally born red panda twins on Oct. 14.
The twins, a male named Maru and a female named Marong, were born on June 19. Their parents arrived at Seoul Grand Park in 2023 from Japan’s Tama Zoological Park and Canada’s Calgary Zoo. The zoo moved up the public viewing schedule as the cubs began spending more time outside their enclosure.
KIA Tigers outfielder Park Jae-hyun was the fourth most searched term. Park, a gold medalist in baseball at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, hit a leadoff home run against the NC Dinos before leaving the game after being hit in the right calf by a foul ball as a precaution.
Sports, Entertainment and Social Stories Round Out the List
Other popular searches included a K League 1 soccer match between Incheon United and Pohang Steelers, the upcoming Marvel Television series “Zodiac,” actor Choi Soo-jong after news of a disagreement with his wife Ha Hee-ra after 33 years of marriage, and tennis player Alexander Zverev in connection with news surrounding world No. 1 Jannik Sinner’s season-ending injury.
The keyword “nurse” also rose after reports that an off-duty nurse helped save a 60-year-old passenger who collapsed on a subway train. “Military academy” trended alongside reports about a proposed establishment of a new Korean military academy.
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