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Korean celebrities searched the most on Google Korea this year

  • Published : Jul 5, 2016 - 16:34
  • Updated : Jul 5, 2016 - 16:34

Google Korea released the list of Korean people or groups whose name search in the portal increased tenfold or more within the last six months:

1. Song Joong-ki
2. Lee Se-dol
3. Ha Hyun-woo
4. Park Yoo-chun
5. Twice
6. Tzuyu
7. Lee El
8. Park Bo-gum
9. Seolhyun
10. Yang Jung-won

Song Joong-ki:

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(Herald Pop)
Song Joong-ki had been a widely known actor in Korea prior to this year. He has starred in several successful dramas and movies, such as “Sungkyunkwan Scandal” (2010) and “A Werewolf Boy” (2012). However, it was through “Descendants of the Sun,” a drama that aired from February to April this year, that Song gained international fame.

Ha Hyun-woo:
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(Herald Pop)
Ha, a member of rock band Guckkasten, held nine consecutive wins in a singing competition TV show “King of Masked Singer,” marking the highest number of wins in the show‘s history.

Park Yoo-chun:
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(Herald Pop)
Park Yoo-chun had already enjoyed international recognition prior to this year. He is the former member of TVXQ, a boy pop quintet, and a current member of JYJ, a boy pop trio. However, that fame turned into notoriety this June when Park was accused of sexual crimes against four women in separate incidents. The scandal first went public on June 10 when a woman pressed charges against Park for sexually assaulting her six days earlier. Three other women later followed suit in suing Park for sexual crimes.

Twice:
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(Herald Business)
Twice is a girl group that debuted in October of 2015. The group consists of five Koreans, three Japanese, and one Taiwanese member. The group became popular through its hit-songs such as “Like OOH-AHH” (2015) and “Cheer Up” (2016).

Tzuyu:
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(Herald Pop)
Tzuyu, a Taiwanese member of girl group Twice, waved a Taiwanese flag on a Korean variety show “My Little Television” in November 2015, which caused an uproar in China, as Beijing holds that Taiwan is part of China. Tzuyu issued an apology on January 15th this year, stating that there is “only one China.” This led the Center for a Multicultural Korea to ask the National Human Rights Commission to probe whether JYP, Tzuyu’s agency, forced the singer to apologize. It said in its statement, “It is very natural for Tzuyu to wave the national flag of her country. But JYP Entertainment and its head Park Jin-young forced her to apologize, succumbing to the reaction of Chinese fans.” Tzuyu‘s apology may have mitigated the wrath of some Chinese people, but it angered the Taiwanese public at large. The JYP website was hacked on January 18 by a group calling itself Anonymous Taiwan.

Seolhyun:
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(Herald Business)
Seolhyun came under fire this May for her attitude in a quiz show. Seoulhyun and Jimin of AOA, a girl group, were asked to identify photos or images of Korean historical figures. Neither succeeded in identifying Ahn Joong-geun, a famous Korean independence activist who assassinated Ito Hirobumi in 1910. The public criticized Seolhyun and Jimin not only for their poor grasp of national history, but also for their facetious attitude when discussing a historical figure revered as a national hero who sacrificed his life for Korean independence, as Ahn had known that he would be executed for assassinating Ito. Seolhyun and Jimin laughed and lightheartedly said, “(Is he) Kim Du-han?” and “Ito-what?” Seoulhyun’s image was consequently removed from the Visit Korea Committee (VKC) website. Seolhyun had initially been appointed as the government branch‘s promotional ambassador, alongside actor Lee Min-ho. Although VKC deleted Seolhyun’s images on its website, it announced that it would not replace Seolhyun.

By Lee Ji-hae (jihlee@heraldcorp.com)