"2025 Presidential Election" Tops Google Searches This Year... "Mutual Benefit Payback" Ranks Second

"K-Pop Demon Hunters" Ranks Second in the U.S.
Legal Terminology Searches Surge

President Lee Jae-myung is answering questions from reporters at the foreign press conference titled "Renewed Democracy, One Year" held on the 3rd at the Blue House State Guest House. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The most searched news topic by Koreans on Google this year was the "2025 South Korean presidential election." The second most searched was "Mutual Benefit Payback," followed by "Livelihood Recovery Consumption Coupon" in third place.

According to Google Korea's announcement of the "2025 Search Terms of the Year" on December 4, searches related to political and economic issues dominated the top rankings. In the news search category, "wildfire" ranked fourth, the "Charlie Kirk murder case" fifth, the "Yellow Envelope Act" seventh, and "early voting" eighth.

There was also a significant increase in searches related to livelihood support programs. In the "how-to" search rankings, "how to apply for the Livelihood Recovery Consumption Coupon" took first place, and "how to use Mutual Benefit Payback" ranked second.

Searches for legal terminology also saw a noticeable rise. In the "meaning search" category, "remand" ranked first, "dismissal" second, "rejection" third, and "denial" fourth. Google Korea analyzed, "This reflects a growing interest in accurately understanding complex social issues."

Movie still cut from "K-Pop Demon Hunters"

"K-Pop Demon Hunters" proved its global popularity by ranking second in the United States' "Search Terms of the Year" and first in the U.S. movie search category. The soundtrack songs "Soda Pop" and "Golden" both made it into the top 10 in the song and humming search categories. The drama series "Squid Game" also ranked highly in the TV and series search categories in several countries around the world.

In the AI tools search category, conversational AI models such as "Gemini" placed within the top 10. Google Korea explained, "It is clear that AI is being widely used for searching, translation, writing, and image creation."

In the movie search category, K-Pop Demon Hunters (first place), "Mickey 17" (second place), and "No Other Choice" (eighth place) were among the top searches. In the drama and series search category, "When Life Gives You Tangerines" (first place), "Squid Game Season 2" (second place), and "The Tyrant's Chef" (fifth place) were particularly popular.

In the music search category, "Golden" (Huntrix), "Soda Pop" (Sajaboys), and "APT." (Rose & Bruno Mars) led the searches.

Kim Nando, professor of consumer studies at Seoul National University, commented, "Looking at the search data, it was a year marked by pronounced anxiety and conflict across politics, the economy, and society," adding, "Even in such an environment, the rapid circulation of content consumption in pursuit of stronger entertainment was a notable trend."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.