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South Koreans searched for a wide mix of celebrity, health care, energy, cybersecurity and investment news on Oct. 23, 2026, according to Google Trends’ real-time rankings for the country.
The list’s rankings and estimated search volumes use different criteria, meaning the top-ranked term did not necessarily have the largest displayed search count. Google provides the volume figures only as approximations.
Chef Son Jong-won Joins Shinsegae Group
Chef and culinary researcher Son Jong-won topped the list with more than 500 searches after Shinsegae Group appointed him as a specialist executive at Josun Hotels & Resorts. Son, who has worked in both Korean and Western cuisine and has experience at Eatanic Garden and L’Amant Secret, was the only specialist executive among the company’s 36 newly appointed executives this year.
Interest also followed South Korea’s first Korean Food Day ceremony. At a related conference, Son presented a strategy for developing Korean cuisine into a stronger brand.
Health Care and Celebrity News Draw Interest
MEDI:GATE NEWS ranked second with more than 200 searches. The outlet, operated by the physicians’ community MEDI:GATE, covers South Korea’s medical sector as well as the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Recent coverage included the ethical frustration reported by doctors in essential medical fields, proposed legislation to establish a public medical graduate school at Incheon National University and debates over health care access in South Chungcheong province.
Singer and actor Nam Yu-jeong, a former member of the K-pop group BB Girls, ranked third with more than 1,000 searches. Interest returned to her past relationship with actor Lee Kyu-han after he appeared on singer Solbi’s YouTube channel and said he had liked her for 20 years. Lee and Nam confirmed their relationship in 2023 and split about a year later. Nam also drew attention for comments about relationships during a radio appearance Oct. 22.
Energy, Food Supplies and Cybersecurity
“Energy crisis” placed fourth with more than 200 searches as reports examined whether rising diesel and fertilizer prices, combined with El Niño, could turn an energy shock into a food crisis. Coverage also focused on how disruption around the Strait of Hormuz and instability in corn supplies could affect global food availability and grocery prices.
A deliberately spaced Korean rendering of “influencer” ranked fifth with more than 1,000 searches. The interest centered on Xing Wei, a 27-year-old Chinese influencer who returned after 17 months following a fall from the 35th floor of a building. She survived but lost her right leg.
“Node.js vulnerability” ranked sixth, while “CVE-2026-111497” placed eighth, each with more than 200 searches. Node.js released a security patch Oct. 21 after reports of a remote-code-execution vulnerability involving manipulated Brotli data and demonstrations of an exploit.
Business, Entertainment and ETFs
The broad term “business” ranked seventh with more than 200 searches, though Google Trends did not connect it to a specific news story. Entertainer Pungja placed ninth with more than 200 searches as reports highlighted changes in her appearance after a 37-kilogram, or about 82-pound, weight loss.
“Exchange-traded fund” rounded out the top 10 with more than 200 searches. Attention focused on a gain of more than 12% for the KODEX China Humanoid Robot ETF, strength in an inverse fund tracking the Kosdaq 150 and the planned Oct. 27 listing of three ETFs investing in areas including Korean and overseas space companies.
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