The three-member girl group 'Huntrix' who catch evil spirits in the Netflix animation 'K-Pop Demon Hunters'. Netflix

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The K-pop-themed Netflix animation "K-Pop Demon Hunters" (K-Pop Demon Hunters) ranked second in Google's list of most-searched terms in the United States this year.

According to "Year in Search 2025," released by Google on December 5 (local time), K-Pop Demon Hunters was the second most-searched term in the United States.

The most-searched term in the United States this year was Charlie Kirk, a supporter of President Donald Trump who died in an assassination incident last September.

The number one search term in the United States in 2025 was found to be Charlie Kirk, a supporter of President Donald Trump who died in an assassination incident last September. Photo by AP Yonhap News

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On September 26, near the Chinese Embassy in Myeongdong, Jung-gu, Seoul, the conservative group Mincho Resistance held an anti-China protest, during which protesters held a photo of Charlie Kirk, a recently killed American right-wing activist. Photo by Yonhap News.

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The third most-searched term was "Labubu," a plush doll character created by a Hong Kong designer. Fourth place went to the Apple iPhone, and fifth was "One Big Beautiful Act," a bill outlining tax and national policy initiatives for President Trump’s second administration.

On the 1st, a customer is selecting character merchandise at the CJ Olive Young and Pop Mart Korea collaborative pop-up store set up at Olive Young N Seongsu in Seongdong-gu, Seoul. The store, recreated as a Christmas village, features popular Pop Mart characters such as Labubu and Molly, along with this year’s representative award-winning products from Olive Young Awards. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

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iPhone 17 Pro. Yonhap News

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Globally, "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters ranked first in song searches, and the animation also topped the movie and cast search categories. "Sodapop" ranked tenth in global song lyrics searches.

Additionally, the drama "Squid Game 3" took second place in the TV show category, and actress Song Jiwoo, who stars in the series, ranked fourth among most-searched actors. The K-Pop Demon Hunters soundtrack songs "Golden" and "Takedown" by Huntrix ranked third and tenth, respectively, in the song search category, while "Sodapop" by Sajavoice was seventh.

On the 15th of last month, the "K-Pop Demon Hunters Hangang Drone Show Encore Performance" took place around Yeouido Hangang Park in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

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In the "Hum to search" feature, which allows users to find songs by humming, "Golden" ranked first.

On May 30, at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, citizens and foreign tourists enjoyed the Squid Game popup event held to celebrate the 2025 K-Content Seoul Travel Week. Photo by Yonhap News

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In the TV show search category, the Netflix drama "Squid Game" ranked fifth.

In the global search rankings, including the United States, Google's AI model "Gemini" was the most-searched term. This suggests that many users tried to access the Gemini chatbot site via Google Search.

Manish Gupta, Senior Director of DeepMind at Google, spoke about Google AI Gemini under the theme "Google AI Opening New Possibilities" at the "Google for Korea" event held on July 2 at the Chosun Palace Hotel in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

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Google commented, "2025 was the year an American became Pope, K-Pop Demon Hunters dominated the charts, and a new artificial intelligence captured people’s imaginations."