TrendingOct 12
in Korea

• 01

  Laneige x Matin Kim cushion goes from No. 2 to No. 1 — yesterday's No. 1, Dominas Cream Rx, drops out of the top 100

  In the Olive Young ranking (Oct 12, 7:58 a.m.), the [October Olive Young Pick/Matin Kim Edition] Laneige x Matin Kim Neo Cushion Muii 15g set (+duffel bag, 47,000 won~ → 46,500 won~) is No. 1 (No. 2 at 9:12 a.m. on Oct 11). The same edition's limited 3-piece set (cushion/powder/tint) is No. 18 (No. 31 on Oct 11) and the Blurring Finish Powder is No. 41 (No. 79 on Oct 11), so all three Matin Kim edition items rose. The [October Olive Young Pick/makeup-friendly base] Yunjac base prep is No. 11 (No. 60 on Oct 11), the Jung Saem Mool Essential Skin Nuder Cushion limited set is No. 48 (No. 46 on Oct 11), and in the No. 51–100 range Hera Black Cushion (NEW Rosy Ivory) entered at No. 64. Dominas Cream Rx, No. 1 on Oct 11, and Dominas Melasma Cushion Rx, No. 6, are not in the top 100. The AGE20S Hidden Prep Foundation Pact (No. 26 on Oct 11), the Mimz cushion (No. 57) and the Clio Kill Cover cushion (No. 59) are not in the top 50.

  No. 1Base
• 02

  Mediheal mask pack at No. 2 — the Seoul Edition derma serum jumps from No. 89 to No. 4, four Mediheal items in the top 50

  In the Olive Young ranking (Oct 12, 7:58 a.m.), the [No. 1 for 15 straight years] Mediheal Essential Mask Pack 10/10+1 sheet set, 7 types pick-and-mix (20,000 won~ → 10,000 won~), is No. 2 (No. 3 at 9:12 a.m. on Oct 11). The [October Olive Young Pick/free luggage tag] Mediheal Madecassoside Derma Serum 50+50ml Seoul Edition (43,000 won~ → 23,900 won~) is No. 4, up from No. 89 on Oct 11. The derma toner pads 100+100 sheets, 7 types, stay at No. 10 and the [Yang Hyeon-jong PICK] hydrating sun serum is No. 16 (No. 18 on Oct 11), giving Mediheal four items in the top 50. The Arocell Super Collagen Mask (No. 11 on Oct 11), Menokin Quick Bubble Mask (No. 13) and Gash large bubble pack (No. 15) are not in the top 50.

  No. 2Mask packs
• 03

  Cleansing — bttr Cleansing Milk to Foam enters at No. 3, Manyo Factory oil No. 47 → 9

  In the Olive Young ranking (Oct 12, 7:58 a.m.), the [smooth and clean] bttr Hydra Barrier Cleansing Milk to Foam 150g (29,000 won → 23,000 won) is No. 3. It was not in the top 100 at 9:12 a.m. on Oct 11. The [October Olive Young Pick] Manyo Factory Pure Soybean Cleansing Oil 200ml 2-pack set (37,000 won~ → 22,500 won~) is No. 9 (No. 47 on Oct 11), the [clean pores/national cleansing foam] Beplain Mung Bean pH-balanced cleansing foam is No. 29 (No. 50 on Oct 11), Blanc Nature Acne Cleansing Foam is No. 42 (No. 33 on Oct 11) and Bioderma Sensibio H2O 850ml is No. 50 (No. 62 on Oct 11). The Juvelook PDLLA milk cleanser, No. 9 on Oct 11, is not in the top 100, and the Juvelook gel cleanser (No. 12) and Cheongmijeong cleansing foam (No. 28) are not in the top 50.

  No. 3Cleansing
• 05

  Two retinal boosters in the top 50 — Ongredients NEW at No. 5, Celimax at No. 31

  In the Olive Young ranking (Oct 12, 7:58 a.m.), the [NEW] Ongredients Bakuglow Retinal Booster Shot 0.2 percent 30ml (32,000 won → 25,000 won) is No. 5. It was not in the top 100 at 9:12 a.m. on Oct 11. The [exclusive set/pore firming] Celimax The Vita A Retinal Shot Tightening Booster 15ml set (30,000 won → 23,100 won) is No. 31, also outside the top 100 on Oct 11. The IOPE Retinol Retijection Serum, No. 30 on Oct 11, slipped into the No. 51–100 range.

  No. 5RetinalNew
• 07

  Color makeup — Holika Holika No. 22 → 7, ten items in the top 50 alone

  In the Olive Young ranking (Oct 12, 7:58 a.m.), ten lip and eye color items are in the top 50 (at 9:12 a.m. on Oct 11 there were 14 in the whole top 100). Holika Holika My Fave Piece eyeshadow/jel-tail/piece beam/piece balm (6,000 won~ → 4,900 won~) is the highest at No. 7 (No. 22 on Oct 11); the [Earl Grey Edition/October Olive Young Pick] fwee 3D Voluming Gloss is No. 15 (No. 35 on Oct 11), and the [NEW/October Olive Young Pick] Clio Crystal Glam Tint (Pungnyeon Dabang edition) entered at No. 21. Heart Percent Dot On Mood Lip Pencil is No. 22 (No. 65 on Oct 11), Clio Pro Eye Palette Air No. 23 (No. 38), Alternativestereo Lip Potion No. 25 (No. 56), Lakaa Perfect Twin Lip No. 26 (No. 93), Clio Sharp So Simple Pencil Liner No. 27 (No. 68), Wakemake Soft Blurring Eye Palette No. 28 (No. 48) and Too Cool For School Smudging Trim Liner No. 47 (No. 53). The Jabinde Seoul eye primer (No. 16 on Oct 11) and fwee Cheek Chip (No. 29) are not in the top 50.

  No. 7Color makeup
• 08

  Body — Dove osmanthus scrub No. 14 → 8, yesterday's No. 7 Tiela body cream out of the top 50

  In the Olive Young ranking (Oct 12, 7:58 a.m.), the [NEW/osmanthus scent launch] Dove Body Scrub 298g, 6 types (17,900 won~ → 10,500 won~), is No. 8 (No. 14 at 9:12 a.m. on Oct 11). Illiyoon Ceramide Ato Lotion 600ml (31,900 won~ → 21,400 won~) is No. 39; it was outside the top 100 on Oct 11. Tree Hut Shea Sugar Scrub is in the No. 51–100 range. The Tiela Perfume Nourishing Body Cream (matcha scent), No. 7 on Oct 11, Milk Baobab body wash (No. 42) and Happy Bath (No. 54) are not in the top 50.

  No. 8Body
• 11

  "Makeup-friendly" — Yunjac base prep No. 60 → 11, Paula's Choice No. 84 → 34

  In the Olive Young ranking (Oct 12, 7:58 a.m.), two items in the top 50 carry "makeup-friendly" (hwajalmeok) in their names. The [October Olive Young Pick/makeup-friendly base] Yunjac Skin Perfecting Protective Base Prep, 3 types (33,000 won~ → 26,400 won~), is No. 11 (No. 60 at 9:12 a.m. on Oct 11), and the [makeup-friendly/exclusive set] Paula's Choice BHA Liquid Exfoliant 118ml (39,000 won → 31,200 won) is No. 34 (No. 84 on Oct 11). The CNP propolis ampoule (No. 32 on Oct 11) and Tone28 cream & serum (No. 90) are not in the top 50.

  No. 11Makeup-friendly
• 12

  Sanrio — Torriden Cinnamoroll refill No. 64 → 12, rom&nd Sanrio tint at No. 65

  In the Olive Young ranking (Oct 12, 7:58 a.m.), the Torriden DIVE-IN Low Molecular Hyaluronic Acid Serum 50ml refill set (+50ml refill + magnet doll, Cinnamoroll, 36,000 won → 25,650 won) is No. 12 (No. 64 at 9:12 a.m. on Oct 11, when it sold for 27,000 won). In the No. 51–100 range, rom&nd Juicy Lasting Tint (Sanrio) entered at No. 65. Johnson's Hello Kitty Beauty Lotion, No. 100 on Oct 11, is not in the top 50.

  No. 12IP collabs
• 13

  Hair — Unove hair mask No. 21 → 13, Labo-H Monchhichi shampoo at No. 14

  In the Olive Young ranking (Oct 12, 7:58 a.m.), the [October Olive Young Pick/No. 1 for 4 straight years] Unove Deep Damage Repair Hair Mask 320ml double/duo set (42,000 won~ → 28,900 won~) is No. 13 (No. 21 at 9:12 a.m. on Oct 11). The [October Olive Young Pick/Monchhichi] Labo-H scalp strengthening shampoo 750ML+100ML (36,000 won~ → 24,900 won~) is No. 14 (No. 25 on Oct 11), the [October Olive Young Pick/Trolls collab] Lilyeve Growturn Exosome Brush Ampoule is No. 17 (No. 23 on Oct 11), and Ryo scalp essence entered the No. 51–100 range.

  No. 13Hair
• 14

  Characters and editions — Monchhichi No. 14, Trolls No. 17, Joy & Friends Medicube device No. 24

  Character and edition items in the Olive Young top 50 (Oct 12, 7:58 a.m.): [October Olive Young Pick/Monchhichi] Labo-H scalp strengthening shampoo at No. 14 (No. 25 at 9:12 a.m. on Oct 11), [Earl Grey Edition] fwee 3D Voluming Gloss at No. 15, [Trolls collab] Lilyeve exosome brush ampoule at No. 17 (No. 23 on Oct 11), the Clio Pungnyeon Dabang edition Crystal Glam Tint at No. 21 (new) and Pro Eye Palette Air at No. 23, [NEW Inimini collab] Heart Percent lip pencil at No. 22, the [UPGRADE] Medicube AGE-R Booster Pro X2 Joy & Friends set (418,800 won~ → 345,000 won~) at No. 24, the [Whig Hush edition] Too Cool For School liner at No. 47 and the [Anpanman collab] Dr.G Brightening Peeling Gel at No. 49. The Torriden Cinnamoroll refill (No. 12) is listed separately under Sanrio. The Banila Co Joy & Friends cleansing balm (No. 44 on Oct 11) and Zeroid Nureongi cream (No. 55) are not in the top 50, while Zeroid creams sit at Nos. 94 and 100. The only Anpanman collab in the top 50 is the Dr.G peeling gel.

  No. 14Editions
• 16

  Sun care — Mediheal sun serum No. 18 → 16, Round Lab No. 63 → 46

  Two sun-care items are in the Olive Young top 50 (Oct 12, 7:58 a.m.). The [Yang Hyeon-jong PICK] Mediheal Madecassoside Hydrating Sun Serum Mark Repair 50+50g set (34,900 won~ → 22,900 won~) is No. 16 (No. 18 at 9:12 a.m. on Oct 11), and the [1+1/No. 1 sunscreen] Round Lab Birch Juice Moisturizing Sunscreen 50ml 1+1 set (25,000 won → 24,500 won) is No. 46 (No. 63 on Oct 11). The Attestation motherwort UV tone-up sunscreen, No. 71 on Oct 11, is not in the top 50.

  No. 16Sun care
• 19

  Euthymol x Hunter toothpaste No. 8 → 19 — string-bag set out of the top 50

  In the Olive Young ranking (Oct 12, 7:58 a.m.), the [NEW Euthymol x Hunter] limited-collab-goods Euthymol bestseller set, 9 types (46,600 won~ → 35,900 won~), is No. 19 (No. 8 at 9:12 a.m. on Oct 11, No. 15 on Oct 10, No. 1 on Oct 8). The 3-WAY string-bag set (No. 41 on Oct 11) and LiveOrals whitening set (No. 58) are not in the top 50.

  No. 19Oral care
• 30

  Moisturizer slot — La Roche-Posay balm No. 4 → out of the top 100, Aestura No. 69 → 38, Torriden cream NEW at No. 44

  In the Olive Young ranking (Oct 12, 7:58 a.m.), the La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5+ 100ml set, No. 4 at 9:12 a.m. on Oct 11, is not in the top 100; only the 200ml balm set appears, at No. 90. The Cicaplast multi-repair cream, No. 5, is also out of the top 50. Creams and lotions in the top 50: the [October Olive Young Pick] Physiogel DMT For Men gift set, 2 types (65,000 won~ → 26,500 won~), at No. 30; the [hydrating and soothing/free serum] Dr.G Red Blemish Clear Soothing Cream EX at No. 35 (outside the top 100 on Oct 11); the [low-irritation/sebum eraser] Pully Melting Cream Two Oil at No. 36 (No. 72 on Oct 11); S.Nature Aqua Squalane Moisturizing Cream at No. 37 (also No. 37 on Oct 11); the [No. 1 cream] Aestura Atobarrier365 Cream at No. 38 (No. 69 on Oct 11); Illiyoon Ceramide Ato Lotion at No. 39; the [October Olive Young Pick][NEW] Hanyul Ssukpanten Repair Soothing Capsule Cream at No. 40 (No. 17 on Oct 11); and the [NEW/October Olive Young Pick] Torriden DIVE-IN Low Molecular Hyaluronic Acid Intensive Cream 100ml set at No. 44 (new).

  No. 30Season change
• 32

  PDRN — Anua capsule serum No. 20 → 32, while Jenabell PDRN mask pack enters Hwahae at No. 16

  In the Olive Young top 50 (Oct 12, 7:58 a.m.), the only item with PDRN in its name is the [Suzy serum] Anua PDRN Hyaluronic Acid Capsule 100 Serum 30mL set (58,500 won → 26,900 won) at No. 32 (No. 20 at 9:12 a.m. on Oct 11). The Gash large bubble pack pore/melasma/PDRN, No. 15 on Oct 11, is not in the top 50. In the Hwahae trending ranking (updated Oct 12), the Jenabell PDRN Rejuvenating Mask Pack (rating 4.69, 367 reviews) entered at No. 16, while the Anua PDRN serum fell out of the top 20.

  No. 32PDRN
• 01

  Trisell collagen shampoo — No. 1 on Hwahae trending for a seventh day, still not in Olive Young's top 50

  In the Hwahae trending ranking (updated 2026.Oct. 12), Trisell Day Collagen Shampoo [Morning of Resort] is No. 1 for a seventh day (rating 4.53, 292 reviews). Night Collagen Shampoo [Midnight Forest] slipped one place to No. 6 (683 reviews), and the anti-dandruff shampoo fell three places to No. 10 (31 reviews). There are no Trisell products in the Olive Young top 50 at 7:58 a.m. on Oct 12 either.

  No. 1Shampoo
• 02

  Hwahae mid-table — ilso peeling swab holds No. 2, Hanyul Ssukpanten capsule cream and Jenabell PDRN mask pack enter

  In the Hwahae trending ranking (updated 2026.Oct. 12), ilso No Trouble-rum Peeling Swab holds No. 2 (rating 4.41, 123 reviews). Abib Resurrection Plant Bifida Serum Firming Drop holds No. 4 (465 reviews), and COSRX AHA/BHA Clarifying Toner Mist rose three places to No. 7. Nard Tea Tree soothing hydrating mask pack is No. 8 (−2), Beplain Mung Bean pH-balanced cleansing foam No. 9 (−1), and ASCEPLUS Rose Exosome Capsule Mist holds No. 14. Hanyul Ssukpanten Intensive Repair Soothing Capsule Cream (rating 4.83, 12 reviews) entered at No. 15 and Jenabell PDRN Rejuvenating Mask Pack (367 reviews) at No. 16. MD's Pick De Barista unscented hand cream holds No. 18, Newverif Matcha Deep-pore Cleansing Milk fell six places to No. 19, and Wellage Real Hyaluronic Blue 100 Ampoule fell three places to No. 20. The Isntree ultra-low-molecular hyaluronic acid serum and Anua PDRN capsule serum, Nos. 19 and 20 on Oct 11, are out of the top 20. The Hanyul capsule cream newly entered the Olive Young ranking at No. 17 on Oct 11 and is No. 40 on Oct 12.

  No. 2PeelingNew
• 03

  S.Nature ampoule mask jumps from No. 16 to No. 3 on Hwahae — moisturizing cream No. 11, toner No. 13, three in the top 20

  In the Hwahae trending ranking (updated 2026.Oct. 12), S.Nature White Glow Ampoule Mask rose thirteen places to No. 3 (rating 4.58, 620 reviews). Aqua Squalane Moisturizing Cream fell two places to No. 11 (43,629 reviews) and Aqua Oasis Toner one place to No. 13 (29,224 reviews). In the Olive Young ranking at 7:58 a.m. on Oct 12, the Aqua Squalane Moisturizing Cream 60ml set (28,000 won → 17,900 won) is No. 37, the same rank as Oct 11, with the sale price 1,000 won lower.

  No. 3Mask packs
• 05

  Aestura Atobarrier365 Cream — Hwahae No. 3 → 5, Olive Young No. 69 → 38

  In the Hwahae trending ranking (updated 2026.Oct. 12), Aestura Atobarrier365 Cream fell two places to No. 5 (rating 4.68, 18,828 reviews). In the Olive Young ranking at 7:58 a.m. on Oct 12, the [No. 1 cream] Atobarrier365 Cream 80ml set (33,000 won~) is No. 38, up from No. 69 at 9:12 a.m. on Oct 11.

  No. 5Barrier
• 12

  Torriden DIVE-IN — Hwahae serum No. 12, toner No. 17; at Olive Young the Cinnamoroll refill hits No. 12 and an intensive cream debuts

  In the Hwahae trending ranking (Oct. 12), Torriden DIVE-IN Low Molecular Hyaluronic Acid Serum fell one place to No. 12 (86,568 reviews) and the toner two places to No. 17 (36,433 reviews). In the Olive Young ranking at 7:58 a.m. on Oct 12, the serum 50ml refill set with a Cinnamoroll magnet doll (36,000 won → 25,650 won) jumped to No. 12 from No. 64 on Oct 11, and the [NEW/October Olive Young Pick] DIVE-IN Low Molecular Hyaluronic Acid Intensive Cream 100ml set (27,000 won → 20,520 won) entered at No. 44. Hyaluronic acid products in the Hwahae top 20 shrank to three: the Torriden serum (No. 12), Torriden toner (No. 17) and Wellage Blue 100 ampoule (No. 20) (five on Oct 11).

  No. 12Serum

• When Daiso opens, the Olive Young next door gains — and when Olive Young opens, the market next door gains: Gwangjang Market foreign payments +48%

  According to Olive Young data reported by Newswho+ (Oct 11), foreign spending in the Gwangjang Market area was ₩5.3B (38,824 transactions) before the ‘Olive Young Gwangjang Market’ store opened in April (Jan–Apr) and topped ₩6.0B (57,677 transactions) after (May–Aug) — foreign payments up 48% and sales up 13% (based on Global Tax Free refund data). A report by Prof. Lee Seong-ho’s team at Hanbat National University using Shinhan Card data found traditional-market sales within 1km of new Olive Young stores rose 7.9–18.3% and restaurants 8.8–18.3%, and a study by Prof. Cho Chun-han of Gyeonggi University of Science and Technology found sales within 200m in tourist/downtown areas rose as much as 26.9%. The Gwangjang Market merchants’ association head said Olive Young barely overlaps with what the market sells. According to Asia Economy (Oct 8), Prof. Cho Chun-han’s team at Gyeonggi Institute of Technology studied card sales one year before and after 379 Daiso stores opened between January 2021 and June 2025 and found health-and-beauty (H&B) store sales within 1km rose 30.8%, the most of 18 sectors. Household goods (29.8%) and bakery/coffee (16.8%) followed; within 3km, household-goods stores rose 24.0% and H&B 15.5%. In a survey of 797 consumers, 53.1% said they also visited nearby stores when going to Daiso. That runs counter to the expectation that Daiso would go head-to-head with Olive Young using sub-₩5,000 cosmetics.

  +48%Anchor storeNew

• Cosmetics by delivery app too — Baemin adds beauty outlet ‘Off Beauty’ at 30 stores, up to 97% off

  According to Daily Hankook (Oct 10), Baedal Minjok (Baemin) added the urban beauty outlet ‘Off Beauty’ to its ‘Groceries & Shopping’ category from the 7th, starting with 30 directly run stores in Seoul, Busan and other cities. Off Beauty buys directly from manufacturers or secures pre-packaging-renewal stock to sell at a discount; on Baemin about 4,000 items including rom&nd, Dr.G and Beauty of Joseon can be ordered, some up to 97% below list price. Baemin had already added Lush and Aritaum. Olive Young’s same-day delivery ‘Today Dream’ grew from about 6 million deliveries in 2022 to 19.35 million last year, and hit 11.66 million in the first half of this year — 48.7% of all its deliveries. Off Beauty joined Coupang Eats’ ‘Groceries & Shopping’ in June with 14 stores, and Daiso expanded its own quick-commerce ‘Today Delivery’ to all 25 Seoul districts in May. Maeil Business (Oct 11) also reported that Baemin brought in 30 Off Beauty stores on the 8th and sells about 4,000 products through instant delivery within an hour of ordering (the article cites up to 90% off list price), noting that Baemin added Fila in July and designer brand Siyazu in August and that Coupang Eats carries Topten, JAJU, Chicor and Holika Holika. Going the other way, Ably has sold trending foods such as Dubai chewy cookies and butter rice cakes, and W Concept held its first "Food Fair" with about 200 food and beverage brands in August.

  30 storesQuick commerceNew

• BubbleSerum 검색 1년 새 60배 넘게 — Bubble mask 다음은 Serum·toner·선크림 거품

  According to News1 (Oct 9), citing CJ Olive Young data, searches for 'bubble serum' on Olive Young's online store rose 6,068% year over year in January–September, with 'bubble toner' up 419%, 'bubble essence' 207% and 'bubble pack' 104%. On Musinsa Beauty, 'bubble serum' searches rose 1,280% and 'bubble toner' 100% in August–September. Menokin, whose '30-Second Quick Bubble Mask' kicked off the trend by pitching no sheet to apply and nothing to rinse off, posted ₩28 billion in sales last year. About 20 bubble-serum brands now show up on Olive Young's online store, and dmaf's 'My First Serum' accounts for about 80% of that brand's sales. Hanyul launched its 'Ssukpanthenol Intensive Repair Moisture Dressing Calming Bubble Serum', and Mamonde released a micro-bubble sunscreen, the 'Flora Glow Rose UV Protector'. In June, YouTube claims spread that the foaming surfactants are bad for skin, drawing pushback that it depends on the type and amount of ingredient. On Olive Young's ranking (Oct 9, 11 a.m.), Menokin's bubble mask is #18, Hanyul's bubble serum set #28 (new), Gash bubble pack #51, Menokin bubble capsule mist #70, Arocell bubble serum mask #71 and numbuzin prep bubble pack #98.

  +6,068%BubbleNew

• Olive Young's daily foreign sales up 70% over China's Golden Week — Gyeongju +153%, regional stores grew faster

  According to Maeil Business (Oct 8), Olive Young's tally of Oct 1–6 during China's National Day holiday (Oct 1–7) shows average daily sales to foreign customers up 70% on last year's holiday (Oct 1–8), and sales to Greater China customers up about 83%. Foreign sales at stores outside the capital region rose 97%, 27 points above the national average: Gangwon +175%, Gyeongju +153% (Greater China +277%), Busan +147%, Jeju +53% and Daejeon +47%. Culture ministry data show 27.8% of foreign tourists through August entered via regional airports and ports, the highest this year. According to Aju Business Daily (Oct 6), Olive Young's January–August foreign sales rose 47% to over ₩1 trillion, from buyers of 192 nationalities, with foreigners making up 33% of offline sales in August.

  +70%Foreign shoppersNew

• 쇼피 9.9 메가데이 — 한국 셀러 KBeauty 주문 2분기 평소의 7x, Vietnam은 13배

  According to the Shopee Korea blog (Oct 6), Korean sellers' sales on the Sept 9 '9.9 Mega Day' were 7 times their Q2 daily average, and total orders from Korean sellers reached 141% of last year's 9.9 sale, the best result in four years. K-beauty orders were 7 times the Q2 daily average, K-fashion more than 5 times and home & living more than 3 times. Shopee Live orders were 12 times and Shopee Video orders 7 times, and by market Vietnam jumped the most at 13 times. In Shopee Korea's August trending report (Sept 7), d'Alba Plumping Lip Glow Mood Volumizer ranked #1 in K-beauty and d'Alba White Truffle First Spray Serum #3, with the top five all being products from the Vietnam market. The September trending report had not been posted as of the morning of Oct 9.

  7xSoutheast AsiaNew

• Cosmetics exports top $1.5 billion in a single month for the first time in September — $11.1 billion for Jan–Sep, 97.6% of last year's total

  According to the trade ministry figures reported by Insight Korea (Oct 2), September cosmetics exports were $1.51 billion, up 31.4% year on year and the first month ever above $1.5 billion. The previous record was $1.35 billion in April and July. Exports of agri-food, household goods and textiles fell the same month. January–September exports totaled $11.139 billion, 97.6% of last year's full-year $11.418 billion. According to eToday (Oct 2), January–September was up 31.1%, led by the US at $2.35 billion (+40.6%, 21.1% share), then China at $1.58 billion and Japan at $890 million.

  $1.51BExports

Trending K-Beauty Products — see all →

• 01

  엔비디아 RTX 스파크 Laptops — 델 XPS 16 Creators Editions Oct. 16 Domestic 출시

  According to NVIDIA's Korea blog (Oct 8), NVIDIA and Microsoft unveiled the laptop chip 'RTX Spark' at an event on Oct 7 (local time); PCs with it opened for global pre-orders on the announcement day and go on sale Oct 16. RTX Spark combines a Blackwell RTX GPU with up to 6,144 cores and a Grace CPU with up to 20 cores, with up to 128GB of unified memory. Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft, MSI and Gigabyte are releasing products, and Microsoft introduced the 'Surface Laptop Ultra'. According to BetaNews (Oct 8), Dell Technologies said it will launch the 'Dell XPS 16 Creator Edition', the first XPS with RTX Spark, in Korea on Oct 16. iNews24 (Oct 8) listed the new models as the Dell XPS 16 Creator Edition, Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra, ASUS ProArt P14 and P16, HP OmniBook Ultra 16, Lenovo Yoga 9n 2-in-1 and MSI Prestige N16 Flip AI+. Korean prices have not been announced yet.

  NVIDIADellOut Oct 16New

• Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra · S12+ launch in Korea — from ₩1.9M

  Samsung launched the Galaxy Tab S12 series and the Galaxy SmartTag3 in Korea on Oct 7 (Samsung Newsroom, Oct 6). The Ultra costs ₩1,899,700–3,018,400 and the S12+ ₩1,549,900–2,069,100. The Ultra has a 14.6-inch screen, is 5.1mm thin and runs up to 23 hours of video; the S12+ is 5.3mm and 553g with up to 21 hours. It’s the first Android tablet with Adobe Photoshop built in, and both support the S Pen. Buy by Oct 31 and you get 16 content perks — including a six-month Google AI Pro subscription worth ₩170,000 and three months of an OTT service — plus an AR screen protector. Buying through Samsung’s AI subscription plan (4-year term) returns six months of fees as membership points, with up to 20% more off depending on conditions. Buy by Oct 13 and post a review by Oct 31 for a ₩50,000 Olive Young gift card.

  SamsungLaunch Oct 7New

• Roborock F25 Ultra Steam Gen 2 — wet-dry vac with 2.5x the steam, out Oct 12

  Roborock said on Oct 7 that its new wet-dry vacuum, the F25 Ultra Steam Gen 2, officially launches in Korea on Oct 12 (Seoul Economic Daily, Oct 7). Turbo steam mode puts out up to 5,000mg of steam per minute — 2.5 times the previous generation — and it feeds water heated up to 90°C. Roborock claims it removes over 99.9999% of bacteria and cuts allergens by over 99.9%. Pricing hasn’t been announced yet.

  RoborockLaunch Oct 12New

• Roborock S10 MaxV Ultra Steam — world-first launch in Korea, Oct 12

  According to Aju Business Daily (Oct 1), Roborock will launch its flagship robot vacuum S10 MaxV Ultra Steam, with high-temperature steam mopping, in Korea on Oct 12 — a world first. Pre-orders run Oct 1–11. Suction peaks at 36,000Pa, it climbs thresholds up to 8.8cm, the body is 7.95cm tall, and it recognizes over 300 obstacles. Roborock said it has held a 50–60% share of Korea's robot vacuum market over the past year. News1 (Oct 1) reported that pre-order customers can be drawn to buy the new model for 100 won. According to Roborock’s official pre-order page, sales open at 10 a.m. on Oct 12, the mop is sanitized with 110°C steam, and pre-registered buyers who purchase during the Oct 12–25 launch period get gifts including a limited-edition lamp made with Ilkwang Lighting.

  RoborockLaunch Oct 12New

• Galaxy Buds On — Samsung's first clip-on earbuds, Korea first on Oct. 27

  On October 1 Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Buds On, the first clip-style wireless earbuds in the Galaxy Buds line (Samsung Newsroom). They hook onto the ear without blocking it, so wearers can still hear their surroundings on walks and runs. They are the first to use Samsung's audio-leakage reduction, which keeps sound from spilling out, plus TwinBoost speakers for bass and automatic volume. A Snapdragon S7 Gen 1 sound platform gives up to 9.5 hours of continuous playback per charge. They launch in Korea first on October 27 in black only at ₩299,000, with other markets to follow.

  SamsungOut Oct. 27New

• 갤럭시 스마트태그3 — iPhone은 되는데 다른 안드로이드는 안 된다, 4만 4,000원

  Samsung Electronics unveiled the Galaxy SmartTag3 location tracker on Oct 1 (Samsung Newsroom). It is about 35% smaller in volume and about 33% lighter than its predecessor, and is the first in the SmartTag series that lets iOS devices check and share its location. A single coin battery (CR2032) lasts up to 550 days in normal use and up to 790 days in power-saving mode. It adds IP67 water and dust resistance, NFC lost mode and an alert when a pet leaves a set area. It launched in Korea first on Oct 7 at ₩44,000 in white or black, with a 4-pack at 15% off for ₩149,600. However, according to KBench (Oct 8), Samsung told US tech outlet Android Authority that SmartTag3 works only with Galaxy phones and iPhones, not with Android phones from other makers such as Google Pixel, Xiaomi, OPPO and vivo, and that there are currently no plans to support them. When KBench tried to set it up on a Pixel 11 Pro, compatibility issues made it unusable. Even on iPhone, some features such as UWB compass finding require a compatible Galaxy phone.

  SamsungLaunch Oct 7New

• Meta AI glasses: nine models launch in Korea · Naver Map directions coming

  On Sept. 28, Shinsegae I&C launched 21 variants across nine models of Meta’s AI glasses in Korea: Meta Capri and Meta Nova, unveiled at Connect 2026; Meta Fury and Meta Adventurer, released in June; and third-generation Ray-Ban Meta. Prices run 480,000–860,000 KRW depending on model and lenses (Yonhap, Newspim, Sept. 28). Two LISA editions designed with BLACKPINK’s Lisa cost 640,000 KRW. They are sold at E-mart Electro Mart, Lotte Hi-Mart, SSG.com and the SK Telecom and KT online stores. The next day Meta and Naver said Naver Map walking directions will come to Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta by year-end (Kyunghyang Shinmun, Sept. 29) — Android first, iOS to follow.

  MetaOut Sept. 28New

• iPhone Duo

  Apple's first foldable iPhone, unveiled September 9. Korea is in the first release wave: pre-orders open October 16 at 9pm and it ships October 23. Apple Korea prices it at 3,290,000 KRW (256GB), 3,590,000 (512GB), 4,190,000 (1TB) and 5,090,000 (2TB), in Star White and Night Sky.

  AppleOut 10.23

• Mac mini M6 · Mac Studio M5 launch in Korea

  Apple's M6 Mac mini and M5 Max / M5 Ultra Mac Studio launched in Korea on Sep 22, after pre-orders opened Aug 25. On Apple's Korean store the Mac mini starts at ₩1,499,000 with M6 (12-core CPU, 12-core GPU) and ₩2,990,000 with M5 Pro; the Mac Studio starts at ₩4,290,000 with M5 Max and ₩9,490,000 with M5 Ultra. According to AI Times, the Mac mini's US base price is $899, up another $100 just two months after a June increase.

  AppleOut Sep 22New

• iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max launch in Korea

  The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max went on sale in Korea on September 18, after pre-orders ran September 12-17. Apple Korea lists the 256GB Pro at 1,990,000 KRW and the Pro Max at 2,190,000 KRW, up to 2TB, in Black, Silver, Glacier and Burgundy. Across the three carriers the smaller Pro took 78% of pre-orders at SK Telecom, about 70% at KT and about 80% at LG U+; the first buyer at Apple Myeongdong in Seoul queued for 13 hours.

  AppleLaunched 9.18

• AirPods 5 launches in Korea

  Apple's AirPods 5 went on sale in Korea on Sept 18. On Apple's Korean online store the base model is ₩199,000 and the wireless-charging-case model ₩229,000. Both include active noise cancellation, which ZDNet Korea says blocks up to 50% more outside noise than the AirPods 4 ANC model. Battery life is up to 5 hours with ANC on, and Live Translation is supported.

  AppleLaunched 9.18New

• Apple Watch Series 12 · Ultra 4 launch in Korea

  Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 launched in Korea on Sep 18. Korea is a first-wave country, so sales began the same day as the US. On Apple's Korean store the Series 12 starts at ₩599,000 and the Ultra 4 costs ₩1,249,000. According to ZDNet Korea, both use the new S11 chip, add a health-sensing system that reads heart rate every five seconds, and bring Audio Intelligence alerts for things like doorbells and a crying baby.

  AppleLaunched 9.18New

New Gadgets in Korea — see all →

• 01

  Sky blue and purple instead of black puffers — Zigzag "purple" searches +740%, Musinsa Standard Cloudy Blue sold out in every size

  According to the Korea Economic Daily (Oct 11), Zigzag searches related to "purple" over the past three months (July–September) rose 740% year on year, "lemon" more than 8x and "mint" more than 5x. Over the same period, average sales of lemon, olive and purple items on W Concept rose about 40%, and the number of mint items sold on W Concept this year rose 1Up to 30% off year on year, with lemon and olive up 92% and 39%. Color has spread from accessories like bags and shoes to outerwear such as puffers: in Musinsa Standard's lightweight puffer "Sheer Hooded Light Down Jacket", sky-blue Cloudy Blue sold out in every men's and women's size to rank No. 1 in sales, with gray No. 2 and yellow green No. 3. Kolon Industries FnC's Henry Cotton added orange and beige to its "Waxed Fisherman Down Parka", previously black only, and cumulative sales in about a month after launch were 3.2x last year's; Hazzys roughly tripled the number of lightweight puffer colors and used light blue and light violet for its new "Nova" line. 8Seconds' "All Day Cashmere" also came out in purple, red and olive.

  +740%ColorNew

• Necklines go deep, color goes purple — 29CM deep V-neck knit sales +621%, Zigzag purple knit searches +2,247%

  According to the Korea Economic Daily (10.9), 29CM's sales of deep V-neck knit items in September (1–30) rose 621% from the same month a year earlier, and sales of V-neck knits overall grew more than fivefold. A deep V-neck plunges below the collarbone toward the chest or solar plexus; Prada showed solid V-neck knits cut below the chest in its 2026 spring/summer collection. TV personality Kim Na-young recommended a deep V-neck knit as a fall pick on her YouTube channel 'Kim Na-young's nofilterTV' on the 4th; IU layered a burgundy deep V-neck knit over a beige shirt, and ITZY's Chaeryeong wore a purple one over a white lace tank. According to Digital Daily (Oct. 10), Zigzag's 'purple-core' sales in September rose 173% from a year earlier, and the standout item is the purple deep V-neck knit — Zigzag searches for purple knits rose 2,247% and purple shirts 2,425% from the previous month. LF's 'Vince' doubled its purple-toned items for fall/winter from a year earlier, and about 15% of 'Hazzys Women' fall/winter sweater colors are purple or burgundy.

  +621%KnitwearNew

• Pants keep dropping — 'sagging' mentions +108%, 'low-rise' +201%

  According to the Korea Economic Daily (Oct 10), ‘sagging’ — wearing trousers with the waistline below the hips or buttocks — has spread mainly through Korean entertainment since last year and has recently grown bolder. Rapper Kim Ha-on appeared at several festivals and on EXO Kai’s YouTube show ‘Jeongwaja’ with his pants pulled halfway down his buttocks, and CORTIS’s Martin, IVE’s Jang Won-young and BLACKPINK’s Jennie have also shown sagging looks. Per Sometrend, mentions of ‘sagging’ over the last three months rose 107.89% year on year and ‘low-rise’ 200.59%. Sagging was a key word in Musinsa’s trend report last year, and Fila Underwear’s ‘Lovers’ line, featured on social media as a sagging pick, saw sales up 277% this year. The underwear Jang Won-young showed while sagging drew attention as a Miu Miu piece costing around ₩1.5M. Newsis (Oct 11) also highlighted sagging by Jennie, Jang Won-young and CORTIS’s Martin, reporting, based on Misto Korea’s July 8 data, that Fila Underwear’s women’s ‘Lovers’ line had passed 100,000 units cumulatively, growing 277% year on year.

  +108%SaggingNew

• ‘Hyunbaek-core’ and Han Yu-ju core — W Concept ‘grown-up woman’ searches +40%, 29CM scarf sales +457%

  According to the Dong-A Ilbo (Oct 10), ‘Hyunbaek-core’ and the ‘grown-up woman look’ — understated luxury through good fabrics and clean silhouettes instead of flashy logos — are trending online. Hyunbaek-core is a coinage combining ‘Hyunbaek’, short for Hyundai Department Store, with ‘core’, describing the nonchalant outfits of a ‘rich man’s daughter’ who already owns everything and finds nothing to buy at the department store. Actors Moon Ga-young’s and Go Youn-jung’s off-duty outfits are cited as the archetype, and Girls’ Generation’s Sooyoung also mentioned Hyunbaek-core on social media. According to W Concept, from Sep 1 to Oct 6 searches for grown-up-woman style keywords — knits, shirts, tie blouses, scarves, cashmere, long skirts, loafers, slingbacks — rose 40% year on year and related sales Up to 30% off, while sales of base and foundation products rose 40%. Muted reds, burgundy, plum and dark brown were popular colors. At 29CM, September sales of scarves rose 457%, trench coats 354%, midi skirts 140% and leather jackets 63%. According to the Korea Economic Daily (Oct 9), Hyunbaek-core is not a Hyundai marketing term but slang born among young people; the share of visitors in their 20s–30s at Hyundai Department Store rose from 37% in 2020 to 46.7% in Jan–Sep this year, and the number of customers in their 20s grew 38.1% year on year. According to Asia Economy (Oct 7), ‘Han Yu-ju core’ — copying the outfits of Han Yu-ju, played by Chae Jung-an in the 2007 drama ‘The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince’ — is part of the same trend, and Google Trends searches for ‘grown-up woman’ jumped more than 5,000% on the 2nd.

  +40%Grown-up womanNew

• The "one-minute sellout puffer" is back — Musinsa lightweight puffer sales 8x in August, New Balance Flying77 first batch sold out

  According to Seoul Economic Daily (Oct 11 and 12), Musinsa started selling lightweight puffers from about 20 brands in August, roughly three weeks earlier than last year, and August lightweight puffer sales were more than 8x the same month last year. On Musinsa Store, lightweight puffer sales from Jul 31 to Aug 13 rose about 7.5x and searches 122%, and from Sep 9 to 19 it held its first "26 FW Lightweight Puffer Festival". 29CM's mid-August women's FW outerwear pre-order event more than doubled sales, with puffers up 1Up to 30% off, fur jackets more than 4x and shearling more than 3x. Teton Bros expanded the styles of its "Alive Down" collection, which sold out early last year, 4.5x and volume about 300%, and Hazzys' first premium lightweight puffer "Nova" drew about 75% of visitors to new outerwear product pages in the first pre-order week. DAKS 26 FW shearling sales rose about 20%. According to the Korea Economic Daily (10.9), New Balance's 'Flying 77 Super Light Goose Down' — dubbed the '1-minute puffer' after selling out within a minute of its release last year — again sold its entire first batch on the day the hooded light goose down launched on the official online store at 10 a.m. on September 9 (E-Land World). A campaign with musician DAWN followed on the 8th. Musinsa Standard's 'City Leisure Hooded Light Down Jacket' passed 30,000 units about 50 days after launch last year, with some colors like Moon Blue and Cloudy Blue reselling at more than twice the list price; this year it's part of the 'Seoul Standard' campaign with Han So-hee and Lee Do-hyun. The North Face is re-releasing in new colors the 'Ventus On Jacket,' whose first batch sold out in about 40 minutes last year despite a one-per-person limit, and the 'Wave On Jacket,' which sold out on launch day. Musinsa searches for 'light padding' from August 1–10 rose 105% from last year. According to Edaily (10.6), Musinsa Standard moved its light-down launch about five weeks earlier, from early September last year to July 30 this year; The North Face's 'Ventus On Ball padded jacket' came out August 12 and Le Coq Sportif's in late August. Musinsa Store's light-padding sales from August to November last year rose 322% year over year, and Musinsa Standard more than doubled 'City Leisure' light-down volume this year. Sierra Designs, whose light-down sales grew 478% last year, raised volume about 50% this year. Emart24 is selling light padding for the first time this year at ₩34,900. According to Money Today (Oct. 1), SSF Shop customers adding light padding to carts rose 384% and buyers 101% from August 20 to September 27, and according to Consumer News (10.8), sales of light-colored light padding such as ivory and pastels rose 82% over the same period. Samsung C&T Fashion expanded its light-padding lineup with 8Seconds 'All Day Air,' Beanpole 'Better Light Down' and Kuho Plus 'Mellow Light Down.'

  8xLightweight puffers

• 하이넥 Trench코트 거래액 +17,610% — Ably가 꼽은 올가을 ‘우아한 미니멀리즘’

  According to Dailian (Oct 9), data released by Ably on the 9th show trench coat sales over the last 30 days (Aug 22–Sept 21) up 456% year over year, with searches up 301%. By style, high-neck trench coat sales rose 17,610% (searches 2,067%), short trench coats 4,287% (searches 2,136%) and half-length trench coats 533%. Midi skirt sales rose 117% and searches 102%, with satin midi skirts up 4,673% (searches 1,685%) and mermaid midi skirts up 488%. Among shop listings for Sept 8–21, Melting Blue's 'Paris High-Neck Double-Button Belted Short Trench Coat' sales rose 1,192% over the prior period, Merryaround's 'Road Raglan Half Trench Coat' 384% and Yuini's 'Ange Ruffle Midi Skirt' 527%. Ably named 'elegant minimalism', understated style over flashiness, as this fall's trend. According to Asia Economy (Oct 7), 29CM's September trench coat sales also rose 354%, and scarves 457%.

  +17,610%TrenchNew

• Gen Z leaves the phone, picks up a digicam — Ably digicam keyring sales +3,779%

  According to Segye Ilbo (Oct 8), digital camera sales on Ably rose 74% year on year in January–September; September alone saw sales up 22% and buyers up 35%, and 63% of buyers are in their 20s or younger. 'Dikku' — decorating your camera — is spreading too: in September, 'digicam pouch' searches rose 94% and sales 534%, 'digicam case' searches 252% and sales 119%, 'digicam strap' searches 98% and sales 109%, and sales of 'digicam keyring' items jumped 3,779% (about 38.8x). Taking a digicam on outings and decorating and sharing the photos is called 'dinol' (digicam + play). On 29CM, May–July searches for 'dika' rose more than 129% and camera/camcorder sales more than 88%, and a limited Ricoh GR4 drop in its June '29 Week' sold out in a minute. Zigzag's digital camera sales rose 184% in June–July.

  +3,779%Camera decoratingNew

• High-neck leather jackets — searches up 3,295% on 29CM and 1,071% on Musinsa

  According to Sports Donga (Oct 6), searches for 'high-neck leather jacket' on Musinsa rose 1,071% year on year over Sept 1–21, and searches for 'high-neck leather jacket' on 29CM jumped 3,295%. Mixxo's faux-leather jacket sales rose 170% over Sept 1–22 and its high-neck faux-leather jacket sold out its first batch. Studio Tomboy's synthetic-leather outerwear has doubled year-on-year sales since its August launch. Instead of the fitted black biker jacket, this fall's leather is roomier, comes in brown and suede, and the stand-up high neck is the hit detail. Influencer Cha Jung-won wore a blouson-style leather jacket over a grey tee, actress Roh Yoon-seo paired one with a white tee and jeans, and aespa's Karina wore hers with a zip hoodie and miniskirt. According to Asia Economy (Oct 7), 29CM's September leather jacket sales rose 63% year on year.

  +3,295%leather

• 'Cigarette fit' instead of skinny jeans — 29CM cigarette-pants searches up 460%

  According to Kukmin Ilbo (Oct 5), from July 1 to end-September searches for ‘cigarette pants’ on 29CM rose 460% year on year and ‘cigarette fit’ on LF Mall 150%, while ‘skinny jeans’ searches on LF Mall rose only about 5%. On Ably, ‘straight denim’ searches rose 515% and related sales 292%, and ‘straight-fit denim’ searches 81% and sales 49%. People want fits that narrow without clinging — Ably ‘semi-wide fit’ sales rose 192% and ‘semi-bootcut denim’ 271%. US Vogue reported a skinny-jean comeback on Sep 5 citing Celine, Gucci and Valentino, but in Korea the shift is toward roomier slim fits like cigarette and slim straight. Hazzys Women doubled its straight-fit denim volume this fall. Econotalk News (Oct 11) linked a slim-fit comeback to weight-loss drugs like Wegovy and Mounjaro and the wellness trend driving demand to show off one’s figure, reporting that DAKS Women’s slim fits that highlight waist and legs are selling better and that slim-fit suits such as Maestro’s ‘Roma Fit’ and DAKS Men’s ‘London Fit’ lifted sales by about 20–Up to 30% off.

  +460%DenimNew

• 공장 작업복 닮은 ‘워크자켓’ — 29CM 거래액 +316%, 워크팬츠·Slouch Boots까지 번졌다

  According to Maeil Business (Oct 8), on 29CM from Sept 24 to Oct 6, sales of 'blousons' rose 298% year over year, 'boots' more than 300% and 'work pants' more than 283%. On Musinsa Store in September, 'boots' sales rose 68%, 'flight jackets' 103% and 'slouch boots' 344%, with 'slouch boots' searches up 232%. Work jackets have branched out from deep indigo blue into beige, black, cream, red, green and purple, and pairing them with slacks, skirts and dresses is catching on. According to Hankyung (Oct 5), 29CM's September work jacket sales rose 316% from the same month last year, and 'work jacket' searches on Musinsa Store rose 216% from August. A work jacket is a workwear-style jacket with a roomy fit, large patch pockets and sturdy cotton. Low Classic's 'Washed Cotton Utility Jacket' made the top of 29CM's weekly outerwear ranking. Actress Go Youn-jung wore a beige work jacket over black top and pants, Kim Na-young paired a blue French work jacket with white trousers, and Son Na-eun and Cha Jung-won styled work jackets with skirts.

  +316%OuterwearNew

• A month before the college entrance exam, 'fish rings' — searches up 55% on 29CM and 47% on Musinsa

  According to Digital Times (Oct 7), searches for 'fish ring' on Musinsa over Sept 1–27 rose 24% from the previous month and 47% from last year, and on 29CM rose 22% month on month and 55% year on year. Around the early-October national holiday, parents from Seoul's Daechi-dong cram-school district crowded Jongno's jewelry street, drawn by a 'Suneung promotion' of 20% off when buying five or more 14K fish rings at ₩400,000 each. A wholesaler supplying Jongno shops said orders in August, around 100 days before the exam, were about double the first-half pace. The fish, which never closes its eyes, is said to watch over the child — and unlike exam-day taffy or mochi gifts for students, the ring is worn by the parent.

  +55%College entrance examNew

• On Musinsa, women's wedge heels sold 12x and knee-high boots 7x more in September; its 'Kicks Festival' shoe sale runs to Oct 16

  According to Fashionbiz (Oct 6), Musinsa's September sales versus a year earlier rose more than 12x for women's wedge heels, 7x for knee-high boots, more than 3x for long boots, 2x for women's flats and 48% for men's dress shoes. To meet that demand, Musinsa is running a 10-day shoe event, the 'Kicks Festival', ending at 11 a.m. on Oct 16. The focus rotates: sneakers (Nike, New Balance, Adidas, Puma) Oct 6–8 and 13–15, running shoes Oct 9–10, and leather shoes and boots (Dr. Martens, Romantic Move, Kinchi, Timberland) Oct 11–12. Shoppers get up to 10% off with an extra cart coupon, and New Balance, Blundstone, Salomon and Clarks Originals are hosting live-stream sales.

  12xBootsNew

• Suede autumn: platform-boot sales up 1,229% and suede-loafer searches up 575% on Zigzag

  According to the Segye Ilbo (Oct 6), September data from women's fashion app Zigzag (vs August) shows suede-loafer searches up 575% and sales up 287%, suede boots up 423% in sales and 359% in searches, platform boots up 1,229% in sales and long-boot searches up 246%. Suede outerwear sales on 29CM rose more than 124% year on year for Aug 7–18. Tremolo's suede jacket sales rose 200%, and DAKS expanded its suede bag styles about sevenfold.

  +1,229%Suede

• Musinsa store visitors 2.8× — on/offline FW sale through the 19th, IPO review decision due this month

  According to Youth Daily (Oct 8), Musinsa is running its fall/winter sale 'On & Off Festival' through the 19th across Musinsa Store online, every offline branch and Musinsa Empty Seongsu, with FW items up to 80% off and last-season stock up to 83% off in an 'offline store archive sale'. Musinsa says September store visitors were about 2.8 times a year earlier, and it opened 10 stores at home and 2 abroad in the second quarter alone. According to JoongAng Ilbo (Oct 7), Musinsa filed for a KOSPI listing review on Sept 7 and could get a decision as early as this month; the market values it at ₩8–10 trillion. In January–August, foreigners accounted for 53–68% of sales at Musinsa Standard stores in Hongdae, Seongsu and Myeongdong, and its online stores in 13 countries grew Q2 sales by more than 143%. First-half revenue was ₩821.7 billion (+22.5%) and operating profit ₩52.3 billion (−11.2%).

  2.8xMusinsaNew

• Zigzag's shop × creator collabs — sales up 3,076% in two weeks, showcases all October

  According to Global Economic (Oct 6), Zigzag is running a month of showcases in which its partner shops team up with creators to present fall/winter collections. Blackup (with dancer Harimu) kicks off on Oct 6, followed by Dearment (actress Jung Da-bin) and Common Unique (dancer Uwa) on Oct 19 and Laroom (influencer Yeri) on Oct 26, each with photo shoots, live streams and short videos. After shop Morent presented its fall line with a fashion creator on Aug 31, its sales over the next two weeks rose 3,076% year on year, and the 'Camille knit' featured in the video grossed over ₩100 million in that period. Garnesra, On the Loading and Demoor follow in November.

  +3,076%CreatorsNew

• Zigzag gathers 50 online shops for a Seongsu pop-up — Oct 16–18

  According to eToday (Oct 1), Zigzag will hold its third offline pop-up, 'ZIGZAG EXPRESS', at Anderson C Seongsu Annex in Seoul's Seongsu-dong from October 16 to 18. About 50 online shops popular with women in their teens to 30s take part: Zigzag-exclusive shops such as Sasaek, Morent, Laroom and Real Coco show their own-made products, and Slowand, Merry Around, Blackup and Manic bring F/W new arrivals, arranged across six themes. Reservations open at noon on October 7 in the Zigzag app, one per ID on a first-come basis, and reserved visitors get a free tarpaulin bag.

  Oct 16–18Pop-upNew

• Musinsa brings Japan's top fashion mall ZOZOTOWN to Korea for its first pop-up, in Seongsu, Oct 16–31

  According to Fashionbiz (Oct 6), Musinsa is teaming up with Japanese fashion platform ZOZOTOWN for a pop-up at its Musinsa Store Seongsu in Seoul's Seongdong district from Oct 16 to 31. It is ZOZOTOWN's first pop-up in Korea. Fifteen Japanese brands take part, including Beauty & Youth United Arrows, Snidel, Urban Research and WeWill by Leadmu. Musinsa's online store is also running a related promotion until Nov 16.

  Oct 16–31Pop-upNew

• W Concept overhauls its men's hall for the first time in 6 years — 15% off 30-plus brands through the 18th

  According to Newsis (Oct 8), W Concept has fully revamped the men's fashion hall it opened in 2020, its first overhaul in six years, to target men in their 30s and 40s. It groups looks into three lifestyle themes — 'Modern Artist', 'Time Collector' and 'Urban Worker' — with shoots featuring artist Kim Chung-jae, plant designer Park Dong-je and sommelier Park Chan. Brands include Man on the Boon, 24/7 Series, Youth, Dunst and San Francisco Market, with Ader Error and Memento Mori exclusive among fashion platforms. Through the 18th, the 30-odd featured brands are 15% off with an extra double 5% coupon. According to Fashionbiz (Oct 6), W Concept's 'W Pre-Order' takes advance orders for winter outerwear through Oct 11 with up to Up to 30% off off shearling, fur jackets, handmade coats and lightweight padding, from brands including Front Row, Towabe, Lookcast, Our Nostalgia, Le Mememe and Sisley.

  First in 6 yearsMen 30s–40sNew

Korean Fashion Trends Now — see all →

• 01

  Half of wedding halls raised meal prices — at least 12 million won even with no guests

  According to the Kukmin Ilbo (Oct 11), an analysis by the office of Rep. Kang Jun-hyeon (Democratic Party) of the National Assembly’s National Policy Committee, based on data from the Fair Trade Commission and the Korea Consumer Agency, found that 108 (49.1%) of 220 wedding halls surveyed twice — in April last year and July this year — raised their per-guest meal price. 72 (32.7%) kept prices the same and 40 (18.2%) cut them, while 26 (11.8%) raised both meal prices and the minimum guaranteed guest count. The median per-guest meal price rose from ₩58,000 to ₩60,000. The minimum guaranteed count — the number of guests you pay for even if fewer actually come — has a median of 200, so at median values the minimum food bill couples must pay regardless of turnout rose from ₩11.6 million to ₩12 million. Consumer counseling cases at the 1372 hotline related to wedding services and wedding planning agencies rose 53.4% from 3,573 in 2024 to 5,480 last year, damage relief requests rose from 905 to 1,076, and dispute mediation filings from 272 to 383. Price disclosure for wedding services became mandatory with a notice revision last November and the grace period ended in May, but as of September 16 only 337 businesses (267 wedding halls and 70 wedding planning agencies) had posted prices on ‘Chamgagyeok’, just 28.1% of the roughly 1,200 businesses the FTC estimates are covered. According to the parliamentary audit schedule reported by Gukje News (Oct 12), the National Assembly’s National Policy Committee audits the Fair Trade Commission, the Korea Consumer Agency and the Korea Fair Trade Mediation Agency at 10 a.m. on the 12th.

  12 million wonWeddingsNew

• Subscription billing complaints up 8.8x in 5 years — one click to join, impossible to cancel

  According to Maeil Shinmun (Oct 10), data that Rep. Park Sung-hoon (People Power Party) of the National Assembly's National Policy Committee obtained from the Korea Consumer Agency show relief requests over online recurring payments and auto-renewals rose 8.8-fold from 17 in 2020 to 150 last year, with 132 filed through August this year. The cumulative total since 2020 is 540. By reason, contract termination, cancellation and penalties led with 275, followed by unfair practices (93), withdrawal of subscription (87) and price/fees (27), and 23 relief cases involved minors. The services in question are ones that charge automatically every month, such as video and music streaming, cloud and digital content. In free-trial damage cases (151 from 2022 to Q1 2025), 34.0% involved inadequate notice of conversion to recurring billing and 32.1% involved blocking or obstructing cancellation within the free period, and only 41.7% got the full amount back. Newsis (Oct 10) laid out both sides of ‘first month free’ trials that switch to paid plans without notice: companies argue the terms say so and consumers have a duty to check, while critics call it a ‘dark pattern’ that trumpets the free offer and buries the conversion terms in small print.

  8.8xSubscriptionsNew

• ‘Solitude influencers’ — everyday life alone has become social media content

  According to Hankook Ilbo (Oct 11), ‘solitude’ content showing single-person households spending time alone is spreading on Instagram. Kim Yu-rye, a 38-year-old office worker in Seoul, posts videos of her solo hobbies after work with the hashtag ‘#honja-nolgi (playing alone)’, and hashtags like ‘Nofriends’, ‘Alone’ and ‘Loneliness’ are also in use. Abroad, the terms ‘loneliness influencer’ and ‘solitude influencer’ have emerged, and Vogue covered the trend in July. A video of Canada's Lana Isa eating frozen pizza alone in front of the TV on a Friday night passed 8 million views, and a video of Sarah Jane Hoadley, a cleaner in her 40s in the UK, cleaning her home alone passed 10 million. According to Statistics Korea's ‘2025 Single-Person Households in Statistics’, the share of single-person households rose from 27.2% in 2015 to 36.1% in 2024, and 48.9% of them said they ‘often or sometimes feel lonely’, more than 10 points above the overall figure (38.2%). Kwak Keum-joo, professor emeritus of psychology at Seoul National University, said voluntary solitude can be positive but that prolonged isolation can make it harder to form relationships.

  Single-person householdsSocial mediaNew

• 20-somethings hooked on ‘yajang’ — 70% like it, Seoul ground-floor outdoor dining up 8x

  According to part 3 of Hankyung's (Oct 8) 'Economics of Yajang' series, a Hankyung.com survey with Jinhaksa CATCH of 1,043 people in their 20s found 70% positive about yajang (outdoor tables set up in front of bars and restaurants) and 8% negative. 70% also said they prefer yajang to indoor seating, citing atmosphere and vibe (64%) and openness (21%). 60% supported expanding yajang, but concerns included late-night noise and shouting (54%) and trash and odors (Up to 30% off). According to Seoul city data obtained by lawmaker Park Ju-min's office, businesses registered for ground-floor outdoor service grew more than eightfold from 158 in 2021 to 1,288 as of August this year, and rooftops more than fivefold to 168. Sometrend analysis shows community mentions rose 58% from 1,541 in May last year to 2,433 in May this year, with mentions rising in spring (April–June) and fall (September–October). Instagram accounts aimed at foreigners are also introducing it as 'yajang'. Seoul tackled the noise first. According to Herald Economy (Oct 11), the city had residents' representatives and merchant associations at the six ‘Moonlight Yajang’ sites chosen in September (Kondae Food Street, Sadang 1-dong Food Alley, Sadang Orak Moonlight Yajang, Sangbong Food Alley, Serosu-gil and Changdong Station Shopping Street) sign coexistence pacts setting business hours, operating areas, noise, odor and open restroom rules. Sangbong Food Alley and Changdong Station Shopping Street have already signed, and the other four will sign in turn in October and November. Outdoor dining spaces on the second floor or higher must have railings at least 1.2 m high, and sound systems, fire-risk equipment and fixed structures are not allowed.

  70% of 20-somethingsOutdoor seating 8xNew

• ‘Cheongnyangni, not Tapgol’ — seniors' leisure spending +59%, billiard halls +91.5%

  According to Financial News (Oct 8), Shinhan Card Big Data Lab compared card use by customers aged 60 and over in January–September 2024 and January–September this year and found seniors' leisure spending rose 59.0% in the Cheongnyangni district (Jegi-dong, Cheongnyangni-dong) and fell 10.3% in the Tapgol district (Jongno 2-ga, Nagwon-dong, etc.). In Cheongnyangni, dining rose 20.1%, cafés 46.2% and medical 11.2%, while in Tapgol dining fell 6.5% and medical 17.5%. Leisure spending by people in their 60s coming to Cheongnyangni from other parts of Seoul rose 62.6%. Billiard hall use rose 91.5% among people in their 60s and 26.9% among those 70 and over, and this year's average visits per senior were 4.4 for Korean medicine clinics, 4.1 for billiard halls and 4.0 for hospitals. Café use by people 70 and over in Cheongnyangni rose more than 63% for both men and women.

  +59%SeniorsNew

• Births outside marriage hit a record 14,000 — 19.6% of couples waited over a year to register

  According to Financial News (via Newsis, Oct 8), an analysis of Statistics Korea's KOSIS by the office of Democratic Party lawmaker Moon Jin-seok found that 14,023 babies were born to unmarried parents last year, up 1.4% from 13,827 the year before and the most since records began in 1981. That is 5.5% of all births (254,341), the second-highest share after 2024 (5.8%) and about three times 2015's 1.9%. The share was higher in the capital area (6.1%) than elsewhere (4.8%), and by region Seoul led at 7.0%, followed by Incheon (6.8%) and Busan (6.7%). Of 240,326 couples who registered marriages last year, 47,096 (19.6%) took a year or more from the wedding date, about 1.7 times the 27,372 couples in 2020. One reason cited is the ‘marriage penalty’: registering combines the couple's income and assets, which can cost them eligibility for policy loans and other benefits.

  14,000 birthsAll-time highNew

• 11 toilet papers compared — up to 1.9x price gap per 10 m, and pricier wasn't better

  According to Financial News (via News1, Oct 8), the Korea Consumer Agency released a quality comparison of 11 toilet paper products (8 regular, 3 bidet-compatible) on Oct 8, covering products from Kleannara, No Brand, Monalisa, Jalpullineun Jip, Kirkland, Codi, Comet and Kleenex. Price per 10m ranged from ₩114.8 for Cozy Powder to ₩226.0 for Clean Care, up to a 1.9x gap (average June prices at official sellers, excluding coupon and card discounts). Kkaekkeuthan, Botanic Forest Soft, Pure Natural and Cozy Powder rated 'excellent' for tear strength, and Kkaekkeuthan and Cozy Powder for low lint. For softness, Premium and Green Tea were relatively soft, while Surprise 3-Ply and Clean Care were less soft.

  11 products compared1.9xNew

• Onnuri voucher revamp meets scandal — ₩12.2 billion spent at a tiny vegetable stall

  The Ministry of SMEs and Startups unveiled an Onnuri gift voucher overhaul at an economic ministers' meeting on Oct 1 (Newspim, Oct 1), the first full revamp since the vouchers launched in 2009. From next year the purchase discount on digital Onnuri vouchers drops from 7% to 5%, with 5% of the amount refunded when used at traditional markets and 3% in regional shopping streets, for total benefits of 10% and 8%. Capital-area shopping streets get no refund, just the 5%, down 2 points from now. From January card points can be converted into digital vouchers, and foreigners will be able to pay by scanning merchant QR codes with their home payment apps. Last year ₩3.95 trillion in vouchers were used, 65% (₩2.6 trillion) at traditional markets. According to the Seoul Economic Daily (Oct 4), Minister Lee So-young later said after hearing from merchants that the proposed 5% discount should be higher, raising the chance it goes up in the National Assembly budget review. According to Financial News (Oct 7), at the ministry's parliamentary audit on the 7th, lawmakers pointed out that a co-op registered as a 13–16 m² vegetable stall in a Gwangju traditional market took ₩12.2 billion in Onnuri vouchers last year, fourth among all merchants nationwide. The co-op's sales jumped from ₩500 million in 2023 to ₩11 billion in 2024 and ₩12.8 billion last year, and when the lawmaker's office bought goods there, the receipt showed a different distributor's name. Lee said the ministry would investigate with the National Tax Service and others. On reports that pricey electronics such as imported audio gear costing about ₩8 million can be bought with the vouchers in the online traditional-market mall, she said product limits would be considered.

  10%Onnuri vouchersNew

• Home renovation complaints up 22.2% to 430 in H1 — consumer agency issues alert

  The Korea Consumer Agency issued a consumer alert on Oct 7, saying interior-renovation damage cases keep rising every year (Yonhap, Oct 7). Relief requests filed from 2023 through the first half of this year totaled 2,243, with 430 in the first half alone, up 22.2% year on year. The main reasons were dissatisfaction with defect repairs (56.9%), breach of contract such as missed schedules or unagreed materials (25.2%) and contract cancellation (13.2%). In one ₩92 million job, when the customer complained about materials that differed from what was promised, the contractor changed the front-door passcode, halted work and stopped answering. Since only registered construction businesses may take jobs over ₩15 million, the agency urged consumers to check registration in the construction industry information system before signing and to always secure a written contract, design drawings and material specs.

  +22.2%Korea Consumer AgencyNew

• Gen Z and millennials head to the bathhouse — ‘sauna’ searches up 23x on 29CM

  According to BizWatch (Oct 7), searches for ‘sauna’ on fashion platform 29CM in January–September rose more than 23-fold (2,2Up to 30% off) year on year, and ‘bath bag’ searches rose over 250%. Sales of bathtub and half-bath goods grew 40% over the same period. Purchases have broadened to sauna hats, robes, bath bags, bath salts and scrub supplies. ‘Modu-ui Sauna’, an app that maps some 5,500 saunas and jjimjilbang nationwide with rankings and reviews, is popular with young people, and body-care brand Sennok opens a bathhouse-concept flagship in Seongsu-dong on Oct 7. Bathhouses themselves are disappearing: per Statistics Korea's KOSIS, the number nationwide fell from 9,950 in 2000 to 5,668 last year, nearly halving in two decades. In on-site reporting by Yeongnam Ilbo (Oct 7), more than half of the customers observed over an hour at a large sauna in Dalseo-gu, Daegu, were in their 20s and 30s. All four one-person scrub spas in Daegu are women-only, and one owner said bookings were full for a week and the main customers have shifted from women in their 40s–50s to their 20s–30s. Bath-supply shops in Seomun Market are also seeing more young customers who found them on Instagram.

  23xWellnessNew

• Seven carbon running shoes — consumer agency test finds up to ₩90,000 price gap

  The Korea Consumer Agency on Oct 6 released test results for carbon-plate running shoes from seven brands that consumers use most (Mediapen, Oct 6). Products were chosen from a survey of 1,000 people who bought carbon running shoes in the past three years, and 30 adult men ran in them to measure biomechanics. Nike and Puma were relatively better at absorbing heel impact, HOKA at spreading pressure across the sole, and Skechers and ASICS at traction; all seven scored well on propulsion. ASICS was the lightest at 198g per shoe and HOKA the heaviest at 301g. Prices ranged from ₩189,000 (Skechers) to ₩279,000 (HOKA), a ₩90,000 gap. All seven scored 4 or higher out of 5 for wearer satisfaction, with Puma highest at 4.6. Adidas, Puma and HOKA were told to fix labels that omitted the lining or misstated materials.

  7 comparedKorea Consumer AgencyNew

• Trend Korea 2027 keywords — Boredom Society, Human Edge, Taste Capital

  'Trend Korea 2027' by Seoul National University professor emeritus Kim Nan-do and the Consumer Trend Analysis Center is out (Miraebook, list price ₩22,000). According to Hans Economy (Oct. 3), at the Sept. 30 launch press conference at the Korea Press Center, Kim presented next year's keywords: 'Boredom Society', 'Life ROI', 'Form-Factor Shift', 'Try-It Economy', 'Saving Humans', 'Vibe Working', 'Re:tention Strategy', 'Human Edge', 'Half Signal' and 'Taste Capital'. He said that in an era of shrinking population and slowing growth, holding on to existing customers through a 'Re:tention Strategy' matters more than winning new ones, and gave examples such as the 'Form-Factor Shift' — changing a product's form rather than its function, like broth tablets, solid shampoo and vitamin patches — and 'Human Edge', where the more polished AI output becomes, the more people's own experience and judgment set work apart.

  Top 10 keywordsNew

Korean Consumer Trends Now — see all →

• 01

  Autumn leaves — 83,000 at Seoraksan over the three-day Hangul Day weekend, peak around the 20th

  According to the Financial News (Oct 8), the Korea Tourism Organization on the 8th released the ‘2026 Autumn Foliage Map’ on its ‘Visit Korea’ website together with the Korea Forest Service’s Korea National Arboretum, with forecast peak dates nationwide and 36 autumn destinations. This year’s leaves turn first in the Seoul area and Gangwon at the end of October and peak across the south, including Gyeongsang and Jeolla, in early-to-mid November. The forecast reflects observations from 829 citizen scientists in the arboretum’s ‘Plant Phenology Observation Project’, and spots include Incheon Grand Park, Cheorwon’s Goseokjeong resort, Goesan’s Mungwang Reservoir, Damyang’s Meta Provence and Seogwipo’s Ttarabi Oreum. The Seoul Shinmun (Oct 8) put the map’s peak at around October 28 for Gangwon and October 29 for the Seoul area, with Jeju last on November 19. According to bnt News (Oct 7), the Korea Forest Service’s ‘2026 Korean Peninsula Autumn Foliage Peak Forecast Map’ released in September predicts maples will peak at Seoraksan on October 20, Naejangsan around November 4 and Hallasan around November 6. The national average peak by species is October 30 for ginkgo and October 31 for maples and oaks. The Korea Forest Service defines the peak as when at least 50% of leaves have turned. This year’s first foliage was confirmed by citizen observers on September 14 in the Jeombongsan forest genetic resource reserve. News1 (Oct 7) reported peaks of October 19–November 1 in central regions and November 1–11 in the south, adding that an early cold wave advisory was briefly issued for Pyeongchang and Taebaek in Gangwon. Crowds hit the mountains on the first day of the holiday. According to Maeil Shinmun (Oct 9), on Hangul Day about 19,800 people visited Seoraksan by 2 p.m. (Seoraksan National Park Office) and 10,885 visited Odaesan by 4 p.m., with about 36,500 across Gangwon’s three main national parks. At Seoraksan the colors had come down to near the low-altitude shelters, and 40–50% of Chiaksan had turned. That day a man in his 70s fell on the Biseondae stairs and was carried down on a stretcher, and a man in his 30s broke his ankle near Bongjeongam and was airlifted by helicopter. Heullimgol requires reservations during the autumn peak season. Crowds continued on the second day. According to the Seoul Economic Daily (Oct 10), the Korea National Park Service counted 23,043 visitors at Seoraksan, 4,563 at Chiaksan and 1,260 at Taebaeksan by 2 p.m. on the 10th, and the ‘2026 Inje Autumn Flower Festival’ at Inje’s Yongdae tourist site extended its run by a week from the 11th to the 18th as chrysanthemums and Korean daisies were in full bloom. The article expected Seoraksan’s foliage to peak around the 19th. The holiday tally is in as well. According to Special Times (photo courtesy of Yonhap, Oct 11), Seoraksan drew about 29,000 on Hangul Day (the 9th), about 32,000 on the 10th and 21,053 by 5 p.m. on the final day, the 11th — about 83,000 over the three days. The colors have come down to near the low-altitude shelters, and the Seoraksan National Park Office expects the peak around the 20th of this month. On the last day, crowds also filled the Hongcheon Ginseng and Hanwoo Festival, the Hoengseong Hanwoo Festival, Chuncheon’s Gongjicheon Lake Festival and the Inje Autumn Flower Festival.

  83,000 visitorsFoliagePeak Oct 20

• Busan International Film Festival at the halfway mark — 50,000 at events in five days, already past last year’s total

  The 31st Busan International Film Festival opened on October 6 and runs through the 15th around the Busan Cinema Center. According to the Seoul Economic Daily (Oct 7), 93 of the 247 official selections from 59 countries are world premieres, and 316 films will be screened including unofficial selections. On opening day, ‘open-run’ lines formed for the red carpet audience seats at the outdoor stage, and buzzworthy titles such as ‘Paradise Lost’, ‘The Remarried Empress’ and ‘Pressure’ sold out on the first day of booking. After joining the FIAPF A-list this year, the winner of the Busan Awards grand prize, the top competition honor, now earns automatic eligibility for the U.S. Academy Awards — the only Asian festival to offer this — and the jury is chaired by director Zhang Yimou. The opening film is Kim Jong-kwan’s ‘Day and Night to Each Other’. The director and entire cast of ‘Assassin(s)’ stayed away amid a political controversy. According to the Korea Economic Daily (Oct 6), Lee Min-ho’s ‘Actors’ House’ was canceled five days before the opening, and at the production company’s request the cast’s opening ceremony attendance and outdoor stage greetings were also canceled. According to Star News (Oct 7), an open talk for Lee Chang-dong’s ‘Possible Love’, winner of the Venice Film Festival’s Silver Lion (Grand Jury Prize), was held at the Busan Cinema Center on the 7th, where Jeon Do-yeon, Sol Kyung-gu, Zo In-sung and others met audiences. According to trivago rate trends cited by the JoongAng Ilbo (Sept 29), Busan’s average hotel price rises about 44% from ₩109,012 per night in September to ₩157,098 in October, and the lowest nightly rate at one five-star hotel in Haeundae jumps from ₩760,000 on opening day to ₩1.09 million on the first weekend, the 10th. Halfway results are in. According to the Financial News (Oct 11), within five days of opening the audience for program events — open talks, outdoor stage greetings, Ajoo Damdam, Cine Class, Actors’ House and more — passed 50,000, beating last year’s total for the whole festival. A Tuesday opening, introduced this year for the first time, and five screenings a day in the large halls from Thursday to Sunday were cited as reasons, and the Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM) drew about 3,000 participants from some 1,200 companies in 58 countries. All 13 competition films had screened by the 11th, and the closing ceremony and Busan Awards will be held on the 15th, hosted solo by actor Yim Si-wan.

  50,000Oct 6–15Busan

• Jeongseon Mindungsan silver grass — Cheongnyangni trains sold out for all three holiday days

  According to Jaekyung Ilbo (Oct 9), trains from Cheongnyangni Station to Mindungsan Station, serving Mindungsan in Jeongseon, Gangwon, sold out for the Hangul Day weekend of Oct 9–11, and even the first train on the weekday of the 8th was full. The first train leaves Cheongnyangni at 7:34 a.m. and arrives at Mindungsan around 10:40 a.m. In a Sometrend survey (Sept 7–Oct 6), mentions of Mindungsan rose 137.98% year on year with 84% positive mentions, and there are more than 71,000 Instagram hashtags. Jaekyung Ilbo described Mindungsan as a ‘silver grass mecca’ that has captivated people in their 20s and 30s.

  Sold outSilver grassNew

• 'Travel Autumn' begins — 100% train fare back for depopulated regions

  The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization are running the '2026 Travel Autumn' campaign in October–November (Financial News, Sep 15). According to Seoul Economic Daily (Oct 4), visiting and checking in at designated sites in 41 depopulated areas earns a coupon worth 100% of the Korail fare, and theme trains are 50% off. Flights booked through Naver earn points worth ₩10,000 on mainland routes and ₩5,000 on Jeju routes, and drivers get up to ₩30,000 in T map points. Island lodging is ₩50,000 off for stays of ₩70,000 or more and ₩30,000 off for ₩30,000–70,000. There are also 87 local travel discounts covering attraction tickets, farm experiences, shows, rail bikes and city tours. According to Financial News (Sep 15), registered campsites are ₩10,000 off, and part of travel spending in the regions is refunded in local currency (50% rate, cap ₩100,000 per person, ₩140,000 for young adults).

  100%Oct–NovNew

• Autumn Stay Sale Festa — first come, first served at 10 am daily

  About 80,000 lodging discount vouchers from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization are released first-come, first-served — one per person — at 10 a.m. every day from Sept. 22 to Nov. 8 on participating online travel agencies. Stays of ₩70,000 or more get ₩30,000 off, ₩20,000–70,000 get ₩20,000 off, and stays of two nights or more costing ₩140,000+ get ₩70,000 off. They apply to lodging outside the capital region, excluding Sejong and North Chungcheong. A separate island edition for six South Chungcheong counties (Dangjin, Boryeong, Seosan, Seocheon, Taean, Hongseong) gives up to ₩50,000 off per night. According to eToday (Oct. 4), Gmarket stacks a 7% Samsung Card discount (up to ₩50,000) on the ₩30,000 government coupon for up to ₩80,000 off through Nov. 8, gathering about 47,000 listings from 12 travel agencies including Yanolja and Yeogi Eottae.

  Daily 10 a.m.Up to 70,000 KRW off

• Autumn camping season — a charcoal brazier inside a tent hits max carbon monoxide in 45 seconds

  According to Maeil Shinmun (Oct. 5), in a 2024 National Fire Research Institute test, bringing a charcoal brazier into a four-person dome tent pushed carbon monoxide to the 500ppm measuring limit in 45 seconds, and a briquette brazier in the vestibule of a living-room tent pushed the inner tent to the same level in 180 seconds. Because CO is lighter than air, alarms should hang within 30cm of the tent ceiling, and a Korea Consumer Agency test found 13 of 15 camping gas-leak alarms (86.7%) underperformed. 41.7% of campsite fires over the past 11 years happened in October. Earlier, Gonggam Shinmun (Sept. 18), citing the Korea Tourism Organization, reported that campsite bookings rise every year from the first weekend after Chuseok.

  45 secondsOutdoor

• November domestic fuel surcharge rises — ₩25,300 one-way

  According to Travel Times (Oct 6), Korean Air and Asiana announced that domestic fuel surcharges (one-way, VAT included) applied from Nov 1 rise from ₩20,900 to ₩25,300. Per person round trip, the surcharge goes from ₩41,800 to ₩50,600. Domestic surcharges hit a record ₩35,200 one-way (level 19) in June, fell to ₩24,200 in July and ₩16,500 in August, rebounded to ₩20,900 in September, held in October and now rise again. Both domestic and international surcharges are tied to the average Singapore jet-fuel price (MOPS), so long-haul costs are also expected to climb ahead of the year-end peak season. Earlier, according to Travel Times (Sept 18), international surcharges on tickets issued Oct 1–31 for flights departing Korea rose two levels to level 23 from September's level 21. One-way, Korean Air charges ₩49,000–₩362,600 and Asiana ₩53,400–₩301,200. On Korean Air, Bangkok, Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City routes rise ₩9,400, Da Nang and Hanoi ₩6,700, and long-haul U.S. routes ₩8,600. The benchmark MOPS average was $158.57 a barrel, up 6.22% from a month earlier (Herald Economy, Sept 16). Surcharges are based on the ticket issue date, not the flight date, so level 23 applies to tickets issued from Oct 1.

  From Nov 1Fuel surcharge

• Foreign wallets go to department stores, not duty-free — Lotte's foreign sales top 1 trillion won for the first time

  According to the Seoul Economic Daily (Oct 7), Lotte Department Store said cumulative foreign-customer sales this year, including outlets and malls, passed ₩1 trillion as of Oct 6. It's a first for the department-store industry, and it had already passed last year's full-year foreign sales (₩734.8 billion) in July. Lotte Town Myeongdong accounts for over half at about ₩520 billion, and Jamsil doubled, with Americas and European shoppers now 35% of its foreign customers. Foreign sales at stores outside the capital area more than 2.5x'd: up 150% in Busan and 100% at the Jeonju and Gwangju stores. According to Financial News (via Newsis, Oct 8), Busan city said on the 8th that 3,434,620 foreign visitors came to Busan in January–August, up 45.9% — more than double the national growth rate (21.6%) — passing 3 million in early August this year versus October last year. Visitors from China (719,260, +88.2%), the U.S. (289,382, +76.1%) and France (38,941, +111.3%) surged, though monthly arrivals of 507,045 in July and 506,946 in August show growth leveling off. Shinsegae Department Store's January–September foreign sales more than doubled to ₩850 billion, and Hyundai Department Store's were ₩805 billion (Shinsegae counts department stores only; Lotte and Hyundai include outlets). Earlier, Energy Economic News (Oct 5), citing Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism data, reported 7,005,163 visitors from Greater China in January–August, including 4.81 million from China (+29%) and 1.65 million from Taiwan (+32.2%). China's National Day holiday ran through Oct 7. Duty-free stores told a different story. According to iNews24 (Oct 11), Korea Duty Free Shops Association figures show domestic duty-free sales in the first half rose only 1.8% to 6.4752 trillion won (foreign sales 4.9968 trillion won, +11.2%), and while foreign duty-free shoppers in August rose 39.1% to 1,386,530, spending per shopper fell 22.4%, from about 736,000 won to 571,000 won. The same article puts foreign arrivals in Jan–Aug at 15,048,435 (+21.6%) and foreign tourists' card spending at 14.018 trillion won (+48.5%) (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism · Korea Tourism Organization).

  ₩1 trillionForeign shoppersNew

• Koreans visiting Japan set to top 10 million for the first time this year — the yen at 846 won per 100

  According to the Korea Economic Daily (Oct 9), Japan National Tourism Organization figures show 7.42 million Koreans visited Japan from January to August, up 21.2% year on year, and August alone saw 850,000 (+28.7%), the most ever for an August. That makes it more likely the total will top 10 million for the first time this year, beating last year’s record of 9.45 million. By year, it was 1.01 million in 2022, 6.95 million in 2023 and 8.81 million in 2024. Koreans made up 27% of foreign visitors to Japan from January to August, up 5 percentage points. In 2024, 79% of Korean visitors to Japan had been there before, and 46% had visited two or more times in the past year. Last year JNTO introduced 60 recommended small towns aimed at the Korean market. The money math also tilts toward Japan. According to the paper, the won-yen base rate on the 8th was 846.35 won per 100 yen, making trips nearly 10% cheaper than at the end of last year (922.23 won), and the weak yen continued even after the Bank of Japan raised its policy rate to 1.25% on the 18th of last month. According to Edaily and the Seoul Economic Daily (Oct 8), the monthly average won-yen rate fell from 950.38 won in June to the 920s in July and the 880s in August. At June’s average rate, 100,000 yen cost about 950,000 won; now it’s about 845,000 won.

  10 millionWeak yenRepeat trips

• Foreign visitors to Sokcho up 26% to 240,000 in Jan–Aug — luxury hotels line up on the east coast

  According to the Korea Economic Daily (Oct 9), statistics released by the Korea Tourism Organization on the 8th show that 241,542 foreigners visited Sokcho, Gangwon, from January to August, up 26% from a year earlier. By nationality, Indonesia (15.2%), the US (Oct. 1%), China (7.6%), Germany (6.1%) and the Philippines (4.5%) led, a higher share of Southeast Asian and Western visitors than among all arrivals to Korea. In August alone the shares were US 12.3%, Germany 11.6%, China 10.6% and France 9.3%. As more foreigners come to hike Seoraksan, the foreign share of September guests at E-Land Park's Kensington Hotel Seorak rose from 14% in 2023 to 40% last year and 50% this year. Upscale lodgings keep opening on the east coast: Banyan Tree opened Cassia Sokcho in 2024, Hotel Shilla opened Shilla Monogram Gangneung last year, and Wyndham opened Wyndham Gangwon Goseong early this year. E-Land Park opens Grand Kensington Seorak Beach in Goseong in mid-October, and in December Inscape Yangyang by Parnas, Gangwon's tallest building at 39 floors, opens. Hoban Group said on Sept 28 it will spend 680 billion won through 2035 on an integrated resort around Hwajinpo in Goseong.

  +26%SokchoNew

• Foreigners visiting Seoul hit 11.56M in Jan–Aug — card spending up 60%, Dosan Park area +240%

  According to a Seoul city release reported by Wikitree (Oct 10), 11.56 million foreigners visited Seoul in January–August this year, up 21.6% from 9.51 million a year earlier and a record, and August alone saw 1.72 million, up 23.3%. By nationality in August, China had 636,000, Japan 322,000 and Taiwan 188,000, together 66.4% of the total. Foreign card spending in January–August was 7.7813 trillion won, up 59.9% from 4.8662 trillion won a year earlier, nearly matching last year's full-year total (7.9375 trillion won). By sector, large shopping malls (+77.5%), medical tourism (+64.2%) and general restaurants (+59.5%) grew sharply. By area, card spending rose 103.7% in Seongsu and 74.7% in Myeongdong, 240.1% near Dosan Park, 206.6% near Gyeongsu Elementary School in Seongsu-dong and 127.4% at Gwangjang Market. Detailed trends are available on the Seoul Data Hub.

  11.56M visitors+59.9%New

• Korea ranks 12th in world tourism competitiveness — 1st in ICT, 109th in high-wage tourism jobs

  According to Newsis (Oct 8), the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Culture & Tourism Institute said Korea ranked 12th of 110 countries (4.90 out of 7) in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) 2026 Travel & Tourism Development Index, up one more place from 14th in 2019 and 13th in 2023, with Japan first (5.27). Korea ranked 1st in ICT readiness, improved its scores in all five areas, and jumped from 20th to 13th in sustainability. It ranked low, however, in purchasing power parity (78th), hotel price index (51st), tourism policy and environment (47th) and share of high-wage tourism jobs (109th).

  12th in the worldWEFNew

How Koreans Travel Now — see all →

• 01

  Convenience-store booze goes "hip-tradition" — 7-Eleven's Yoon Nam-no Bokdamju sells out 200,000 bottles, traditional liquor +120%, GS25 baijiu 35x

  According to Asia Economy (Oct 11), 7-Eleven will launch "Jeultomak", a makgeolli made with tomatoes from Yeongwol, Gangwon, and Korean rice, on the 15th. Its ABV was lowered to 5% to match demand for low-alcohol drinks. Since "Malchamak" last August, 7-Eleven has released novelty traditional liquors such as "Aldalmak", "Yunjumak" and "Mikkulmak", selling 700,000 bottles in a year, and "Yoon Nam-no Bokdamju", made with chef Yoon Nam-no last August, sold out all 200,000 bottles across five batches. Thanks to Bokdamju, 7-Eleven's traditional liquor sales from Aug 5 to Oct 9 rose 120% year on year; 56% of Bokdamju buyers were women and 60% were in their 20s and 30s. Traditional liquor sales to foreign customers also rose 77% this year through the 7th. According to Segye Ilbo (Oct 11), Chinese baijiu sales on GS25's liquor smart-order service "Wine25plus" are 35 times their 2023 level this year, Japanese sake 9.5 times and imported beer more than double, with about 5,000 liquors on offer. 7-Eleven's sake "Aki Green", made with Choo Sung-hoon, sold out its first 40,000 bottles and 20,000 more were brought in in January, and the whiskies "Black Circle" and "Black Circle MAX" passed 1 million bottles cumulatively in August. The share of 7-Eleven whisky sales from products under 30,000 won rose from 37.5% in 2021 to 76.9% this August.

  200K bottlesTraditional liquorNew

• Cooled off in Korea, Dubai chewy cookies are now a tourist buy — CU foreign sales of the cookie +328.7% in Q3

  According to Seoul Economic Daily (Oct 10), the Dubai-style chewy cookie ranked 6th in CU's foreign-customer sales for January–September this year (excluding alcohol and tobacco), and at GS25 "Momoz Lab Dubai Chewy Cookie" was 3rd in foreign-customer sales for January–August. On Naver DataLab, searches for "dujjonku" peaked on Jan 10 and fell sharply from February to about 1/100 of the peak today, and CU's total Q3 sales of the cookie were down 52.3% from Q1. Yet CU's Q3 foreign sales of the cookie rose 328.7% from Q1, far above the 85% growth in all foreign sales over the same period. By nationality, CU's January–September cookie sales were 40.5% Chinese, 37.2% Taiwanese, 12.7% Japanese and 9.6% American customers, and at GS25 it was No. 3 among Greater China customers and No. 4 among Japanese customers. The top foreign-customer item was Binggrae Banana Milk at CU and "Yojeum Greek Yogurt (blueberry)" at GS25.

  +328.7%Foreign shoppersNew

• GS25 x Taegeukdang: after 2.7 million ice creams, bread — butter cream bread on the 13th, mammoth bread on the 15th

  According to Singlelist (Oct 12), GS25 is teaming up with the 80-year-old bakery Taegeukdang to launch "Taegeukdang Butter Cream Bread" (2,800 won) on the 13th and "Taegeukdang Oranda Bread" (3,200 won) and "Taegeukdang Mini Mammoth Bread" (3,800 won) on the 15th. The Oranda bread layers apple jam and soboro between white bread and castella, and the mini mammoth bread fills a soboro bun with red bean paste, strawberry jam and peanut butter cream. The two companies have released six collab ice creams since "Injeolmi Parfait" in April last year, with about 2.7 million sold by the end of September. "Milk Cone", released in May, sold the most at about 1.2 million in five months, and "Old-style Bingsu" from last June also sold about 1 million.

  2.7M soldHeritage bakery collabNew

• Convenience stores become ‘gacha playgrounds’ — 7-Eleven photocard and capsule-toy pulls top 50,000; stores with them see sales +31%, foreign sales +84%

  According to Newsis (Oct 11), cumulative sales of 7-Eleven’s idol photocard draw service ‘Poca-i’ and its character/K-goods gacha service ‘Action Play Zone’ recently passed 50,000. Poca-i launched in January and runs in five stores — three in Seoul plus Gwangalli and Haeundae in Busan — selling photocards of 24+ acts including BTS, aespa, Stray Kids, IVE, ATEEZ and CORTIS. Action Play Zone, introduced last November, runs in two Seoul stores and one in Daegu, selling gat (traditional hat), K-Tiger and Seoul subway keyrings plus ‘Crayon Shin-chan’ and ‘Jujutsu Kaisen’ figures. Excluding two later openings, the four stores running the services saw Jan–Sep sales up 31% year on year and foreign-tourist sales up 84%. Their top item among foreign shoppers was the instant smoothie, followed by banana milk and transit cards. 7-Eleven plans to expand to about 20 stores this year, focused on tourist areas such as Hongdae, Busan and Jeju. GS25 has turned the second floor of its Seomyeon Star store in Busan into a test-bed space with Ichiban Kuji ‘no-blank’ lottery kiosks and seven large display cases. The article calls this pull-for-fun spending ‘ppop-pamine’ (pull + dopamine).

  50,000GachaNew

• Pokémon 30주년 카드 한 상자 7만 원 → 중고 ₩120,000 — 세븐 1차 물량 80% 팔렸고, GS25는 다음 주·CU는 24일 입고

  According to Segye Ilbo (Oct 9), Pokémon Korea's 30th-anniversary ‘MEGA Expansion Pack 30th CELEBRATION’, released Sept 16, costs ₩3,500 per pack (6 cards) and ₩70,000 for a 20-pack box, yet on secondhand platforms such as Karrot (Danggeun) a box goes for around ₩120,000 (about 71% above retail), with some posts asking over ₩300,000 for two boxes. One of the six cards in each pack is a special 30th-anniversary Pikachu card, and with 30 different Pikachu holo cards, one box can't complete the set. 7-Eleven started selling on the 1st and sold 80% of its first shipment in five days (Oct 1–5), with more stock on the way. GS25 began taking orders on the 6th with per-store quantity caps and will stock stores in turn from next week; CU takes per-store pre-orders from the 7th, with deliveries starting the 24th. According to Hankyung (Oct 8), it was the No. 1 search term in the 7-Eleven app, and last month new Pokémon-related posts on Karrot were up 479% year on year, trades 411% and searches 263% (all Pokémon goods). A Pokémon card set CU released for Children's Day in May sold 250,000 units in three days. According to Segye Ilbo (Oct 5), CU will follow its 3D-character ice cream ‘Frozen Ditto Sorbet’ with Pikachu and Magikarp sorbets on the 14th.

  ₩120,000PokémonNew

• GS25 피스타치오 Chapssaltteok (sweet rice cake), 사전 Pop-up 100Set 바로 Sold out — 민음사빵은 1.6M sold에서 ‘정점 퇴장’

  According to Seoul Shinmun (Oct 9), GS25 held a preview pop-up for its ‘Limited Pistachio Chapssaltteok’ (stuffed sweet rice cake) at its GS Gangnam store in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 8th, and all 100 prepared sets sold out the moment sales opened. The official launch is the 15th. According to ZDNet Korea (Oct 5), each costs ₩3,900, and 20,000 pre-orders are being taken through the 10th. According to Edaily (Oct 7), GS25 wrapped up ‘Minumsa Bread’, a collaboration with publisher Minumsa and ‘Today's Cuteness’, with a final order on the 7th. The target was 400,000 by end of September, but cumulative sales passed 1.6M, and sell-through was still 100% right before the end. The article called this a ‘hit-and-run’ strategy of pulling a product at its peak, and cited Korea Customs Service data (via Rep. Jung Il-young's office) showing pistachio imports fell 92.6%, from 731t in February to 54t in July, after the Dubai chewy cookie craze. The first installment, the yogurt chapssaltteok, sold 700,000 in a month at 100% sell-through and was GS25's No. 1 quick-commerce seller in September (Herald Economy, Oct 6). CU launched ‘Pizza Jeolpyeon’ (₩3,800), a pressed-rice-cake take on the rice-cake-shop hit ‘pizza seolgi’, as a permanent item on the 8th (Hankyung, Oct 6).

  100Set Sold outRice cakeNew

• Convenience stores 겨울 장사 앞당겼다 — GS25 타이츠 +1,073%·Hand warmers +1,034%, roasted sweet potato 5천 점으로

  According to Yonhap (Oct 9), GS25's Oct 1–7 sales of hot packs and hand warmers rose 1,033.7% from the week before and tights 1,072.7%, followed by ready-to-eat fish cakes 653.3%, roasted sweet potatoes 132% and herbal drinks 50.2%. GS25 expanded its winter-snack stores (roasted sweet potatoes and more) to 5,000. Over the same period CU saw hot packs up 400.3%, stockings 74.8%, winter clothing 66.1%, ready-to-eat fish cakes 69.8%, ‘get Coffee Hot Americano’ 59.2%, roasted sweet potatoes 56.1%, masks 20.4% and cold medicine 20.2%. 7-Eleven started selling roasted sweet potatoes on Sept 14, eight days earlier than last year, and from Oct 1–5 its hot pack sales rose 1,490% week on week, fish cakes 163%, lip care 148% and stockings 93%. Emart24 hot packs were up 325% week on week for Oct 1–7. According to Seoul Economic Daily (Oct 8), a cold wave advisory was issued for the mountains of Taebaek and Pyeongchang in Gangwon on the 5th, the earliest since the cold-wave alert system was revamped in 2005. CU is selling in-store-heated corn pies and apple pies (₩2,000 each) as buy-2-get-1 in October, and Emart24 will launch hoppang (steamed buns) made with SPC Samlip at the end of the month. According to Singlelist (Oct 12), CU has been rolling out 19 cold-weather clothing items since the 1st, including thermal socks, fleece-lined tights, earmuffs and fleece, and will add a fleece jacket (22,900 won), windbreaker (27,900 won) and lightweight puffer (39,900 won) on the 22nd. Since the 6th it has also put steamer machines in stores to sell four kinds of hot steamed buns: red bean, sweet potato, vegetable and pizza.

  +1,073%Hand warmersNew

• Convenience stores Wine 4분기 전쟁 — 10월 첫 주 세븐 +34%·GS25 +21%, 반 고흐 Wine 3주 150K bottles

  According to Money Today (Oct 9), the industry expects over Up to 30% off of annual wine sales to come in Q4, and Oct 1–6 wine sales rose year on year by 34% at 7-Eleven, 21.1% at GS25, 18.4% at CU and 3% at Emart24. CU's Jan–Sept wine sales grew 21.8% for bottles under ₩30,000, 11% for ₩50,000–100,000 and 3% for ₩1M and up. GS25 is expanding its lineup around New Zealand Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and launched four Italian wines, ‘UMAIZING’, made with Keumyang International and actress-singer Uhm Jung-hwa. CU added two private wines, ‘Eum-mmm! Merlot, Cava’, and Emart24 added three ‘COMO’ wines for a total of 11. According to Etoday (Oct 7), the two Van Gogh art wines 7-Eleven launched in September sold over 150,000 bottles in three weeks to rank No. 1 and No. 2 in its wine sales, and September red wine sales were up 26% from August. 7-Eleven is releasing Giacomo Borgogno's ‘No Name’ in an exclusive package and taking 20% off 119 wines through Oct 31.

  +34%WineNew

• GS25's Netflix collabs hit 70 million units in three years — 10th anniversary brings 'KPop Demon Hunters' transit cards and 10% bigger snacks

  According to The Financial News (Oct 8), GS25 is rolling out collaboration products through end-October to mark Netflix's 10th year in Korea: three snacks plus chilled pizza, gimbap and dakgangjeong, and transit cards featuring 'Squid Game', 'KPop Demon Hunters' and 'Can This Love Be Translated?'. The cards target both foreign tourists and local Netflix users. Five existing collab items — two jumbo popcorns, two potato chips and fried squid — keep their prices but grow by 10% or 10g in anniversary packaging. GS25 has launched 121 Netflix collab items since 2023, selling over 70 million units, and will run a booth at the 'Netflix Festival' on Oct 24–25.

  70M unitsIP collabNew

• 7-Eleven's character goods sales quadruple — 300,000 Hello Kitty bags, and Jogeuman dinosaurs land on the 9th

  According to Yonhap (Oct 8), 7-Eleven's sales of goods bundled with characters grew more than fourfold year on year in January–September; 75% of buyers were women and people in their 30s (34.2%) were the largest age group. 7-Eleven is launching five items with dinosaur character brand 'Jogeuman', starting with keyrings, cushions and blankets of its signature 'merciless, cruel Brachio' on the 9th. According to Money Today (Oct 5), the four Sanrio Characters reusable bags 7-Eleven has released since May sold out with each restock and passed 300,000 units, and searches for bag stock in the 7-Eleven app topped 500,000 since May. From May 1 to Sept 30, fancy-goods sales rose 3.5-fold year on year, foreign-customer sales rose fivefold, and women in their 30s–40s made up half of sales. 7-Eleven has added a 'Hello Kitty Saekdong Reusable Bag', with Kitty in a striped hanbok jacket, and a 'Hello Kitty Black Reusable Bag'; the two new bags released in late September entered the top 3 of same-day pickup items in the app right after launch. With 40% off through Oct 31 plus an extra 20% for BC Card or Toss Pay, the price drops to ₩2,400.

  4xMerchNew

• CU's RESCENE bread hits 600,000 — 69% of buyers are men, and KBS calls it a 'convenience-store bread boom'

  According to Kyeonggi Ilbo (Oct 4), the five breads featuring girl group RESCENE that CU rolled out from Sept 17 sold about 600,000 by Oct 1. Men made up 69.1% of buyers, more than double women (30.9%), and men in their 30s were the largest group at 22.7%. Each bread holds one of 27 random photo cards. KBS (Oct 6) reported that the photo cards resell at a premium on secondhand apps and that a bread with classic-book cover packaging sold over 1.4 million in a month, framing it as a boom in collectible 'novelty breads'. Herald Economy (Oct 6) also cited the 600,000 figure. In an Edaily interview (Oct 11), Lee Eun-gwan, head of CU's CX division, said staff recommended RESCENE after watching reactions to videos such as the "Geoje yaho" meme, and the group was chosen once viral metrics kept rising every week. It swaps the old "Fin.K.L bread" stickers for photocards, and fans even coined "graduating RESCENE" for completing the set. Planning also used AI synthetic consumer research that creates virtual consumers and analyzes their answers.

  600K soldfandom bread

• 배스킨라빈스에 도미노피자까지 12일 인상 — 라지 1,500원↑, 가공식품 26 products 중 24 items 올랐다

  According to Hankook Ilbo (Oct 8), Domino's Pizza will raise prices by an average 4.4% from the 12th, its first increase since 2022: large pizzas go up ₩1,500 and mediums ₩1,000. On the same day Baskin-Robbins raises prices on 46 items (16 ice creams plus 30 drinks and others) by an average 5.9%, its first hike in 3 years and 2 months since August 2023: a Single Regular goes from ₩3,900 to ₩4,300, a Quarter from ₩18,500 to ₩19,900, and a Cafe 31 Americano from ₩5,300 to ₩5,500. According to Seoul Shinmun (Oct 5), the Korea Consumer Agency's Price Info (Chamgagyeok) August price trends showed 24 of 26 commonly bought processed foods costing more than a year earlier. Soups and stews rose the most at 39.2% (15.7% on a same-product basis), followed by cup rice 24.9%, gochujang 19.8%, doenjang 19.1%, cola 16.8% and noodles 16.1%. Wheat flour fell 13.1%, its 11th straight monthly drop. Haitai Confectionery raised prices on 25 brands by an average 7.8% on Oct 1 (Jayu Sigan bar ₩1,200 → ₩1,400), and Woongjin Foods raised about 20 drinks by an average 7% the same day. In September consumer prices, processed foods rose 2.1%, bread 5.7% and eating out 2.5% (National Data Office, Oct 2).

  Price hike Oct 12price hike

• The ‘tteok pilgrimage’ reaches the freezer — Emart frozen rice cakes +155%, CU Dubai chewy rice cake 2.8M sold, Jamsil’s 8-shop popup runs to the 15th

  According to the Korea Economic Daily (Oct 11), Emart’s frozen rice-cake sales from Jan 1 to Sep 17 rose 155% year on year, and Lotte Mart’s frozen rice-cake sales rose more than 90% in March–August. CU’s ‘Dubai chewy chapssaltteok’, launched last October, has sold about 2.8 million units, and GS25’s ‘Hanjeongseon yogurt chapssaltteok’ was the No. 1 seller on its delivery/pickup service in September, beating canned beer (700,000 sold cumulatively; 6 million related searches on the Woori Dongne GS app). The article noted that pizza toppings and yogurt cream make familiar tteok look new, while regional shop names give people a reason to travel. According to the Seoul Shinmun (Oct 9), Lotte Department Store is running the ‘Nationwide Tteok Pilgrimage 2’ popup on B1 of its Jamsil store Oct 9–15, with eight shops — Sokcho’s Yukgu Bangatgan, Yeongdong Tteok Bangatgan, Busan’s Yeongdo Bridge Tteokbang, Seoul’s Baeknyeon Hwapyeon and Daeheung Tteokjip, Changwon Saenggwabang, Daegu’s Morak Jeolmi and Yeosu’s Bomnal-en — five of them new. Items include Yukgu’s rice-grain chapssaltteok (4 for ₩4,500), Yeongdo’s Pizza Seolgi (₩3,300 each) and Daeheung’s matcha-choco seolgi (₩5,500 each). The first edition, with five shops, drew about 20,000 visitors with ~100 people queuing per day, and the main building’s bakery/dessert category posted its highest-ever average daily sales. According to Money Today (Oct 8), Pizza Hut launched ‘Pizza Hut Pizza Seolgi’ (₩3,900), a cup-dessert take on the rice-cake-shop open-run hit, at all stores on the 8th, orderable in store, online, by phone and via Baemin, Coupang Eats and Yogiyo; it is topped with gouda, provolone and mozzarella. According to the Herald Economy (Oct 6), rice-cake sales grew 70.6% from ₩564.1B in 2018 to ₩962.4B in 2025 (National Data Office). Lotte runs Pizza Seolgi popups at Lotte World Mall in September and its Gangnam food hall in October, and Shinsegae Gangnam’s Sweet Park hosts one all October. Coinages like ‘tteok open-run’ and ‘tteok-ticketing’ have appeared because people must queue before shops open. According to the JoongAng Ilbo (Oct 2), Sometrend found posts mentioning tteok as a ‘dessert’ rose more than 40% in Jan–Aug, and per the Korea Economic Daily (Oct 6), social mentions of Pizza Seolgi jumped from under 100 in April to over 10,000 in September. CU launched ‘Pizza Jeolpyeon’ (₩3,800) the same day, the 8th. TV Chosun (Oct 11) covered the rice-cake pilgrimage as a new MZ dessert trend, featuring a customer who queued from 10:30 a.m. to buy for friends outside Seoul, and Herald Economy (Oct 11) reported a college student who waited two hours at a department store to buy Hanjeongseon rice cakes as a gift for his girlfriend.

  +155%Rice cake

• Godiva mochi — the line closes at 6 a.m., and searches are on track for +3,488% in a month

  According to Newsis (Oct 10), one netizen visited the store on the 3rd and 4th and failed both times; on the second day they arrived around 7:10 a.m. and the waitlist had already closed. According to Digital Daily (Oct 10), ‘Godiva purchase proxy’ and ‘someone to buy Godiva mochi for me’ job posts appeared on Daangn Alba again on the 9th, and the expected wait at Hanjeongseon’s Seoul Station store on the 8th was 1.5–2 hours. According to the Korea Economic Daily (Oct 9), Godiva mochi pickup starts at 10:30 a.m. but the on-site waitlist closes around 6 a.m. The fresh-fruit mochi with fruit and chocolate costs ₩8,500. On Bunjang, someone offered to buy them for an extra ₩25,000 per mochi (a proxy fee about three times the product price). Per the big-data platform Blackkiwi, Naver searches for ‘Godiva mochi’ from Sep 8 to Oct 7 totaled 83,300, and Blackkiwi projects 342,000 by month-end (+3,488% month on month). The same article noted that the ‘tteok open-run’ — queuing from dawn for rice-cake desserts — has taken hold, and 7-Eleven brought back four Japanese ‘Tirol Choco Mochi’ items at three times last year’s volume. According to Newsis (Oct 8), on the 7th posts such as ‘someone to buy Godiva mochi’ and ‘someone to open-run Godiva at Jamsil Lotte World Mall’ appeared on Daangn Alba, some offering ₩70,000 per errand. The mochi come in fresh-fruit, gelato and praline types priced from the ₩7,000s to ₩9,000s. According to Newsis (Oct 7), ‘Godiva Mochi’, launched Sep 10 by the Belgian chocolatier, wraps chocolate ganache and fruit such as strawberry and banana in glutinous-rice skin and is sold only at the Jamsil Lotte World Mall store. At 8:30 a.m. on the 6th a sign reading ‘today’s stock sold out, waitlist closed’ stood outside, and one person in their 20s left Siheung at 2 a.m. and arrived at 4. About ten staff start making mochi at 4 a.m.; payment is at 9 a.m. and pickup at 10:30. The article also noted Yoajung (yogurt-honeycomb mochi) and The Venti (yogurt-purple mochi) launching mochi.

  Closes at 6 a.m.MochiNew

• Chicken-price probe, five days later the big three are in a coupon war — BBQ ₩5,000 off pickup, Kyochon points up to 5%, while chicken prices rebounded 18% in a week

  According to Newsis (Oct. 10), BBQ is giving a ₩5,000 coupon on pickup orders made in its own app throughout October (participation in September rose 101% from the month before), and took ₩4,000 off Golden Olive Chicken orders on Hangul Day (the 9th). bhc gives coupons worth up to ₩13,000 plus a membership tier upgrade to anyone who places three in-app orders of ₩20,000 or more in October, and Kyochon renamed its tiers SINGLE·COMBO·SIGNATURE while raising point rates from 0.5%·1%·2% to 1%·3%·5%. According to the Hankyoreh (10.7), the Fair Trade Commission sent investigators to the headquarters of bhc, BBQ and Kyochon on the 6th to look into suspected price-fixing. It came a week after President Lee Jae-myung shared an article on X on September 30 saying broiler prices had fallen 37.7% in six months while signature menus stayed around ₩23,000, writing "we'll take a look." Korea Broiler Council data cited by the Tax & Finance Daily (10.6) show No. 9–10 broilers fell from ₩5,308/kg on March 23 to ₩3,308 on September 15. According to News1 (10.8), the price rebounded about 18.6% to ₩3,923 in October, and the article noted that short-term market prices alone can't tell whether menu prices are fair. According to Digital Times (10.7), the Korea National Council of Consumer Organizations announced the same day that actual weights came in below the label by 30.5% for Kyochon Fried, 23.1% for Goobne Original, 21.7% for Cheogajip Fried, 13.1% for BBQ Golden Olive and 8.6% for bhc Fried (labels are based on raw meat before cooking). The industry says slaughter, brining, transport, labor and delivery fees make it hard to cut prices based on live-chicken costs alone.

  Coupon warChickenNew

• 요아정 ‘생과일 요거트 Chapssaltteok (sweet rice cake)’ 테스트 Sold out at 250 stores → 8일부터 전국

  According to Edaily (Oct 8), frozen yogurt brand Yoajung expanded its ‘Fresh Fruit Yogurt Chapssaltteok’ to all stores nationwide from the 8th, after the item, launched first at 250 test stores in September, sold through its prepared stock and stayed sold out for over a week. The second batch is more than double the first, and three new flavors (fresh pineapple, fresh orange and fresh gold kiwi) join the original five for eight in total. Existing menu items get more yogurt cream and fresh fruit, and granola has been added to the signature ‘honeycomb’ item. Newsis (Oct 7) reported the open-run (lines before opening) for Godiva mochi and noted Yoajung and The Venti also launching mochi.

  Sold out at 250 storesChapssaltteok (sweet rice cake)New

• Paris Baguette's Choco Chewy Churros pass 2.3 million — 'one every two seconds', now the girls' high school snack

  According to Korea Economic Daily (Oct 8), Paris Baguette's 'Choco Chewy Churros' (₩2,900) passed 2.3 million sold as of Oct 6 — roughly one every two seconds since launch. A student at a girls' high school in Seocho said they vanish even when piled high at the store by school, and shops near Chungmuro and Dongguk University keep baking them past 6 p.m. Videos singling out branches that are generous with the chocolate have topped a million views, and sister product 'LA Choco Chewy Donut' is selling more too. According to Segye Ilbo (Oct 7), Paris Baguette's 'Choco Chewy Churros', launched Sept 2, passed 2.2 million sold as of closing on Oct 5. It hit 1 million in 24 days and 1.7 million in a month, then sold another 500,000 in the three days after the Oct 2 announcement. On Oct 6 one Seoul franchisee said 40 pieces put out around 11:30 a.m. sold out quickly. Instagram is full of short videos comparing stock and texture by store, one with 1.88 million views. Paris Baguette says headquarters doesn't cap supply; each store orders its own.

  2.3M soldChurrosNew

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• 35

  Lil Boo Thang — Paul Russell

  #35 on Instagram rising audio. 2.3M reels.

  #35Down
• 36

  Koi — Gen Hoshino

  #36 on Instagram rising audio. 46K reels.

  #36Up
• 37

  Pajama Parties no Uta — パジャマパーティーズ

  #37 on Instagram rising audio. 62K reels.

  #37Up
• 38

  Happy times — Nebubu

  #38 on Instagram rising audio. 8K reels.

  #38Down
• 39

  Jumper — Waterflame

  #39 on Instagram rising audio. 3.5K reels.

  #39New
• 40

  LOVE ATTACK — RESCENE (RESCENE)

  #40 on Instagram rising audio. 66K reels.

  #40New
• 41

  fish song — Tenorio S.

  #41 on Instagram rising audio. 56K reels.

  #41Down
• 42

  너 — SYSTEM SEOUL, ycs

  #42 on Instagram rising audio. 1.6K reels.

  #42New
• 43

  Ruins摇 (律动氛围版) — One叶儿

  #43 on Instagram rising audio. 1.1K reels.

  #43New
• 44

  ENOuGH — 홍중(ATEEZ), Bazzi

  #44 on Instagram rising audio. 1.2K reels.

  #44New
• 45

  사계, 그리고 너 — 이창섭

  #45 on Instagram rising audio. 285 reels.

  #45New
• 46

  Pinball — RESCENE (RESCENE)

  #46 on Instagram rising audio. 4.8K reels.

  #46New
• 47

  Beggin' — Måneskin

  #47 on Instagram rising audio. 1.68M reels.

  #47New
• 48

  그리그: 페르귄트 모음곡 제1번 - 아침 — BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

  #48 on Instagram rising audio.

  #48Down
• 49

  Last Night on Earth — Green Day

  #49 on Instagram rising audio. 20K reels.

  #49

• Charts meet Reels — two RESCENE songs enter

  RESCENE's "LOVE ATTACK" (#40, 66K reels) and "Pinball" (#46) entered side by side. The same day, "LOVE ATTACK" is #1 on Spotify Korea.

  Cross-signal

• Three slowed and Jersey club edits

  "REVENGE (Super Slowed)" (#9, 920K reels), "Let Me Know #JerseyClub (Slowed)" (#13) and "All I want is #JerseyClub (Slowed)" (#19) are all rising.

  Remix

• Old pop still owns the usage counts

  "You Make My Dreams" (#21, 750K reels), "L O V E" (#30, 720K), "Beggin'" (#47, 1.68M, new) and "Upside Down" (#22) lead on total usage.

  Old pop

• Five hashtags max — and sometimes none is better

  Hashtags are now capped at five per post, and one dataset shows posts with no tags reaching 23% further than heavily tagged ones.

  Max 5 tags

• There is no public hashtag ranking

  Instagram does not publish hashtag usage rankings. The "Rising" audio list inside the Reels editor is the only ranking visible in the app.

  No public data

Trending Instagram Reels Audio in Korea — see all →

• 01

  #theweeknd

  Climbed to No.1 on TikTok Creative Center's Korea 7-day chart (No.2 the day before). 3.1K posts and 3.7M views, up from 1.7K posts and 2.3M views. Category: News & Entertainment. The Weeknd played Goyang Stadium on Oct 7–8 for Hyundai Card Super Concert 28, his first Korea shows in eight years, drawing about 54,000 people per night (The Fact, Oct 8, Hyundai Card estimate).

  지난주 2위 ▲1No. 1Concert
• 02

  #Hangul Day

  New at No.2 on TikTok Creative Center's Korea 7-day chart. 2K posts and 3.5M views. Category: News & Entertainment. Hangul Day (Korean Alphabet Day) was Oct 9, and the long weekend ran through Oct 11.

  No. 2New
• 03

  #할로윈

  New at No.3 on TikTok Creative Center's Korea 7-day chart. 1.6K posts and 1.7M views. Category: News & Entertainment. Yesterday's No.1 #us and No.3 Chiikawa tag dropped out of the top 3.

  No. 3New
• 01

  #TikTok인생작Contest

  Climbed to No.1 on TikTok Creative Center's Korea 30-day chart (No.2 the day before). 21.9K posts and 116.8M views, up from 18.5K posts and 96M views. No category listed.

  지난주 2위 ▲1No. 1Contest
• 02

  #Chuseok

  No.2 on TikTok Creative Center's Korea 30-day chart (No.1 the day before). 19K posts and 66.6M views. Category: News & Entertainment. Views rose by 2M from the previous day (19.1K posts, 64.6M views).

  지난주 1위 ▼1No. 2News & Ent
• 03

  #boruto

  New at No.3 on TikTok Creative Center's Korea 30-day chart. 32.1K posts and 13.2M views. Categories: News & Entertainment and Games. Yesterday's No.3 #anya dropped out.

  No. 3New

Trending TikTok Hashtags in Korea — see all →

• 01

  KATSEYE (캣츠아이) "Animal" Official MV

  #1 among Korean-artist videos on kworb Asia realtime; #9 across Asia overall.

  No. 1Music video
• 02

  KATSEYE (캣츠아이) 'Hootie Frutti' Official MV

  No.2 among Korean artists' videos, pulled from kworb's real-time Asia chart. No.11 in Asia overall.

  No. 2Music video
• 03

  PSY - GANGNAM STYLE(강남Style) M/V

  No.3 among Korean artists' videos, pulled from kworb's real-time Asia chart. No.14 in Asia overall.

  No. 3Music video
• 04

  ILLIT (아일릿) ‘It’s Me’ Official MV

  No.4 among Korean artists' videos, pulled from kworb's real-time Asia chart. No.16 in Asia overall.

  No. 4Music video
• 05

  LE SSERAFIM (르세라핌) x ILLIT (아일릿) x KATSEYE (캣츠아이) 'ICONIC BY MISTAKE' Official MV

  #5 among Korean-artist videos on kworb Asia realtime; #20 across Asia overall.

  No. 5Music video
• 06

  BTS (방탄소년단) '2.0' Official MV

  No.6 among Korean artists' videos, pulled from kworb's real-time Asia chart. No.32 in Asia overall.

  No. 6Music video
• 07

  KATSEYE (캣츠아이) "Gameboy” Official MV

  #7 among Korean-artist videos on kworb Asia realtime; #41 across Asia overall.

  No. 7Music video
• 08

  BTS (방탄소년단) 'Dynamite' Official MV

  #8 among Korean-artist videos on kworb Asia realtime; #42 across Asia overall.

  No. 8Music video
• 09

  ENHYPEN (엔하이픈) 'Bloody Paradise' Official MV

  #9 among Korean-artist videos on kworb Asia realtime; #58 across Asia overall.

  No. 9Music video
• 10

  TUIDE (튜이드) ‘SUN KISS’ Official MV

  No.10 among Korean artists' videos, pulled from kworb's real-time Asia chart. No.59 in Asia overall.

  No. 10Music video
• 11

  LE SSERAFIM (르세라핌) 'BOOMPALA' OFFICIAL PERFORMANCE FILM

  No.11 among Korean artists' videos, pulled from kworb's real-time Asia chart. No.69 in Asia overall.

  No. 11Music video
• 12

  ILLIT (아일릿) ‘Magnetic’ Official MV

  No.12 among Korean artists' videos, pulled from kworb's real-time Asia chart. No.78 in Asia overall.

  No. 12Music video
• 13

  LE SSERAFIM (르세라핌) x ILLIT (아일릿) x KATSEYE (캣츠아이) 'ICONIC BY MISTAKE' Dance Practice

  No.13 among Korean artists' videos, pulled from kworb's real-time Asia chart. No.94 in Asia overall.

  지난주 14위 ▲1No. 13Music video
• 14

  KATSEYE (캣츠아이) "Gnarly" Official MV

  No.14 among Korean artists' videos, pulled from kworb's real-time Asia chart. No.96 in Asia overall.

  지난주 13위 ▼1No. 14Music video
• 15

  BLACKPINK - ‘뛰어(JUMP)’ M/V

  No.15 among Korean artists' videos, pulled from kworb's real-time Asia chart. No.99 in Asia overall.

  No. 15Music video

Trending YouTube Videos in Korea — see all →

• 01

  RESCENE — LOVE ATTACK

  #1 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  No. 1No change
• 02

  SOYEON — I’m gonna TOESA

  #2 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  No. 2No change
• 03

  CORTIS — REDRED

  #3 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  No. 3+1 vs yesterday
• 04

  Jung Kook — Seven (w/ Latto)

  #4 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  No. 4-1 vs yesterday
• 05

  Jimin — Who

  #5 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  No. 5No change
• 06

  RESCENE — Deja Vu

  #6 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  No. 6+1 vs yesterday
• 07

  RESCENE — Pretty Girl

  #7 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  No. 7+2 vs yesterday
• 08

  ALLDAY PROJECT — CRASH

  #8 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  No. 8-2 vs yesterday
• 09

  ATEEZ — BAD

  #9 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  No. 9+1 vs yesterday
• 10

  Redoor — Forever Has Always Been

  Spotify Korea daily chart No. 10.

  No. 10-2 vs yesterday
• 11

  HANRORO — 0+0

  Spotify Korea daily chart No. 11.

  No. 11No change
• 12

  HANRORO — Landing in Love

  Spotify Korea daily chart No. 12.

  No. 12No change
• 13

  aespa — LEMONADE

  Spotify Korea daily chart No. 13.

  No. 13+2 vs yesterday
• 14

  Hearts2Hearts — RUDE!

  Spotify Korea daily chart No. 14.

  No. 14No change
• 15

  Nerd Connection — If I have you only (My love X Nerd Connection)

  Spotify Korea daily chart No. 15.

  No. 15-2 vs yesterday
• 16

  Post Malone — Sunflower - Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (w/ Swae Lee)

  Spotify Korea daily chart No. 16.

  No. 16+2 vs yesterday
• 17

  BESTie — Love Options

  #17 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #17+3 vs yesterday
• 18

  I.O.I — Suddenly

  Spotify Korea daily chart No. 18.

  No. 18+1 vs yesterday
• 19

  KiiiKiii — Pop Off Pop Off

  Spotify Korea daily chart No. 19.

  No. 19-3 vs yesterday
• 20

  BIG Naughty — Nostalgia

  #20 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #20-3 vs yesterday
• 21

  ILLIT — It's Me

  Spotify Korea daily chart No. 21.

  No. 21+2 vs yesterday
• 22

  WOODZ — Drowning

  #22 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #22No change
• 23

  HANRORO — Let Me Love My Youth

  Spotify Korea daily chart No. 23.

  No. 23+1 vs yesterday
• 24

  Nerd Connection — ‎Good Night Good Dream

  #24 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #24+1 vs yesterday
• 25

  JANNABI — for lovers who hesitate

  #25 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #25-4 vs yesterday
• 26

  The Weeknd — Die For You

  #26 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #26+1 vs yesterday
• 27

  RESCENE — Pinball

  #27 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #27-1 vs yesterday
• 28

  YENA — Catch Catch

  #28 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #28+8 vs yesterday
• 29

  Hearts2Hearts — Lemon Tang

  Spotify Korea daily chart No. 29.

  No. 29+4 vs yesterday
• 30

  The Black Skirts — Ling Ling

  Spotify Korea daily chart No. 30.

  No. 30+2 vs yesterday
• 31

  The Weeknd — Blinding Lights

  #31 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #31-2 vs yesterday
• 32

  RESCENE — Runaway

  Spotify Korea daily chart No. 32.

  No. 32-2 vs yesterday
• 33

  KiiiKiii — 404 (New Era)

  Spotify Korea daily chart No. 33.

  No. 33-2 vs yesterday
• 34

  데이먼스 이어 Damons year — yours

  #34 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #34+3 vs yesterday
• 35

  Epik High — Love Love Love

  #35 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #35No change
• 36

  Lim Young Woong — ToTo

  #36 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #36-8 vs yesterday
• 37

  Woo — We Are (w/ Loco, GRAY)

  #37 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #37+2 vs yesterday
• 38

  머무르 — The Adult I Dreamed Of

  #38 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #38No change
• 39

  IU — Dear my crazy soulmate

  #39 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #39-5 vs yesterday
• 40

  OFFICIAL HIGE DANDISM — Pretender

  #40 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #40+2 vs yesterday
• 41

  Hearts2Hearts — FOCUS

  #41 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #41+3 vs yesterday
• 42

  TUIDE — SUN KISS

  #42 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #42-1 vs yesterday
• 43

  TAEYEON — Bansanka

  #43 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #43+2 vs yesterday
• 44

  Hearts2Hearts — STYLE

  #44 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #44+3 vs yesterday
• 45

  The Weeknd — One Of The Girls (w/ JENNIE, Lily-Rose Depp)

  #45 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #45-5 vs yesterday
• 46

  Kim Na Young — A Letter For You

  #46 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #46-3 vs yesterday
• 47

  BIGBANG — BiiiG

  #47 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #47+1 vs yesterday
• 48

  fromis_9 — Vitamin ME

  #48 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #48+1 vs yesterday
• 49

  tuki. — 晩餐歌

  #49 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #49+6 vs yesterday
• 50

  BTS — SWIM

  #50 on the Spotify Korea daily chart.

  #50-4 vs yesterday

Top Songs in Korea Right Now — see all →

• 01

  Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of Mermaid Island

  Released 2026.09.30. No. 1 daily per KOFIC ticketing data.

  지난주 2위 ▲1No. 1
• 02

  Assassin(s)

  Released 2026.09.23. No. 2 daily per KOFIC ticketing data.

  지난주 1위 ▼1No. 2
• 03

  Tazza: Song of Beelzebub

  Released 2026.09.23. No. 3 daily per KOFIC ticketing data.

  No. 3
• 04

  The Odyssey

  Released 2026.08.05. No. 4 daily per KOFIC ticketing data.

  No. 4
• 05

  Revival Man: The Red

  Released 2026.09.30. No. 5 daily per KOFIC ticketing data.

  지난주 6위 ▲1No. 5
• 06

  Look Back

  Released 2026.10.08. No. 6 daily per KOFIC ticketing data.

  지난주 5위 ▼1No. 6
• 07

  The Mouths

  Released 2026.10.07. No. 7 daily per KOFIC ticketing data.

  No. 7
• 08

  Digger

  Released 2026.10.03. No. 8 daily per KOFIC ticketing data.

  지난주 9위 ▲1No. 8
• 09

  Obsession

  Released 2026.09.02. No. 9 daily per KOFIC ticketing data.

  지난주 8위 ▼1No. 9
• 10

  Labrador the Movie: Save the Mango Festival

  Released 2026.10.03. No. 10 daily per KOFIC ticketing data.

  No. 10

Korean Box Office Today — see all →

• 01

  League of Legends

  MOBA from Riot Games. No. 1 overall, combining portal trends, PC-bang usage, streaming viewers and user votes.

  No. 1MOBA
• 02

  FC Online

  Sports from EA Korea Studio. No. 2 overall, combining portal trends, PC-bang usage, streaming viewers and user votes.

  No. 2Sports
• 03

  Valorant

  FPS from Riot Games. No. 3 overall, combining portal trends, PC-bang usage, streaming viewers and user votes.

  No. 3FPS
• 04

  PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds

  FPS from Krafton. No. 4 overall, combining portal trends, PC-bang usage, streaming viewers and user votes.

  No. 4FPS
• 05

  Lineage

  MMORPG from NCSoft. No. 5 overall, combining portal trends, PC-bang usage, streaming viewers and user votes.

  No. 5MMORPG
• 06

  Overwatch 2

  FPS from Blizzard. No. 6 overall, combining portal trends, PC-bang usage, streaming viewers and user votes.

  No. 6FPS
• 07

  MapleStory

  MMORPG from Wizet Studio. No. 7 overall, combining portal trends, PC-bang usage, streaming viewers and user votes.

  No. 7MMORPG
• 08

  Sudden Attack

  FPS from Nexon GT. No. 8 overall, combining portal trends, PC-bang usage, streaming viewers and user votes.

  No. 8FPS
• 09

  Roblox

  Role-playing game from Roblox Corporation. No. 9 overall, combining portal trends, PC-bang usage, streaming viewers and user votes.

  No. 9RPG
• 10

  Lost Ark

  An MMORPG run by Smilegate RPG. No. 10 in the composite ranking of portal trends, PC-bang access, stream viewership and user votes.

  No. 10MMORPG
• 11

  Aion 2

  MMORPG from NCSoft. No. 11 overall, combining portal trends, PC-bang usage, streaming viewers and user votes.

  No. 11MMORPG
• 12

  StarCraft

  RTS from Blizzard. No. 12 overall, combining portal trends, PC-bang usage, streaming viewers and user votes.

  No. 12RTS
• 13

  MapleStory Worlds

  Other from Nexon. No. 13 overall, combining portal trends, PC-bang usage, streaming viewers and user votes.

  No. 13Other
• 14

  Dungeon & Fighter

  Action RPG from Neople. No. 14 overall, combining portal trends, PC-bang usage, streaming viewers and user votes.

  No. 14Action RPG
• 15

  Minecraft

  Adventure from Mojang. No. 15 overall, combining portal trends, PC-bang usage, streaming viewers and user votes.

  No. 15Adventure
• 16

  Eternal Return

  Strategy shooter from Nimble Neuron. No. 16 overall, combining portal trends, PC-bang usage, streaming viewers and user votes.

  No. 16Strategy / Shooter
• 17

  World of Warcraft

  MMORPG from Blizzard. No. 17 overall, combining portal trends, PC-bang usage, streaming viewers and user votes.

  #17MMORPG
• 18

  Warcraft III

  RTS from Blizzard. No. 18 overall, combining portal trends, PC-bang usage, streaming viewers and user votes.

  No. 18RTS
• 19

  TalesRunner

  Racing game from Raon Entertainment. No. 19 overall, combining portal trends, PC-bang usage, streaming viewers and user votes.

  No. 19Racing
• 20

  Diablo IV

  Action RPG from Blizzard. No. 20 overall, combining portal trends, PC-bang usage, streaming viewers and user votes.

  #20Action RPG

Most Popular Games in Korea — see all →

• Neulk-kkeu-kkeu (‘old creator crew’)

  According to Yonhap (Oct 6), ‘Neulk-kkeu-kkeu’ is the opposite of ‘Young Kkeu-kkeu’ (Young Creator Crew), a phrase from a song by idol group CORTIS, and refers to someone unfamiliar with the latest trends. The Seoul Economic Daily (Oct 6) reported that ‘Young Kkeu-kkeu’, repeated in “YOUNGCREATORCREW” from CORTIS's second mini album, has spread like slang symbolizing a young, hip generation and settled in as a meme. Ahead of the 100th Hangul Day (Oct 9), both outlets named Neulk-kkeu-kkeu, along with ‘bamti’ (ugly, meh) and ‘neujot’ (good vibes), as slang that shows the language gap between generations. Munhwa Ilbo (Oct 8) also covered Neulk-kkeu-kkeu as ‘generation-gap’ slang along with ‘ajas’ (short for the Japanese ‘arigato gozaimasu’) and ‘shagal’, and SBS (Oct 9) reported a parent who was puzzled after an elementary-school child said “Mom doesn't know because she's neulk-kkeu-kkeu.” Earlier, a PMI survey reported by Joongang Economy News (Oct 7; 1,000 people aged 20–59, Oct 1–6) found 34.0% of people in their 20s and 7.5% in their 50s ‘often’ use slang. It has reached celebrity content too. According to OSEN (Oct 10), model Lee Hyun-yi introduced younger models as “the hottest of the hot (daese)” in a video on her YouTube channel ‘Working Mom Lee Hyun-yi’, got called ‘neuk-keu-keu’ by Kim Jin-kyung, and asked back, “So what do people say these days?”

  CORTISHangul DayNew

• “Geoje yaho~” — RESCENE’s catchphrase, four months on, now sells 600,000 buns

  ‘Yaho’ here isn’t the shout you make on a mountain but the Japanese youth greeting ‘yahho (やっほー)’, so it means ‘Hi, Geoje~’. According to iNews24 (July 8), the original scene is from a YouTube shoot where RESCENE’s Wonee, who is from Geoje, told Japanese member Minami, dressed in gyaru makeup, “You’ll get scolded if you go to Geoje like that,” and Minami shot back in gyaru-speak, “Geoje~ yaho~!” According to Dailian (June 29), the video hit millions of views within two weeks of release, RESCENE’s YouTube subscribers jumped from the 100,000 range to over 700,000 in about a month, and their 2024 song ‘LOVE ATTACK’ climbed the charts again. According to Sports Donga (Oct 6), on KBS2’s ‘Malja Show’ on October 5, the impressionist who mimicked ‘Geoje yaho’ in G-Dragon’s voice — and even got a mention from G-Dragon himself — appeared and said he has been flooded with hateful comments from netizens around the world. According to the Seoul Shinmun (Oct 5), CU’s ‘RESCENE bread’, launched September 17, sold about 600,000 units through September 30, and 69.1% of buyers were men, led by men in their 30s (22.7%), 40s (18.6%) and 20s (15.8%). According to Sports Kyunghyang (Oct 9), Minami features on rapper Loco’s new song ‘TATA’, out at 6 p.m. on October 15, which Loco hinted at on the 8th by posting an emoji of Minami’s signature pose on Social media. RESCENE returns in November with their fourth mini album ‘PULSE’. According to Ilgan Sports (Oct 11), the 2024 song ‘Love Attack (LOVE ATTACK)’ even made it into the No. 1 candidates on SBS’s ‘Inkigayo’ on the 11th.

  CatchphraseRESCENE600K sold

• PGR (price-to-giddiness ratio) — Samsung Electronics shares fall 2.05% despite 107 trillion won operating profit

  According to JTBC (Oct 8), Samsung Electronics posted a record ₩107 trillion in operating profit, but its stock rose just 0.19% early in the session before turning lower, closing down 2.05% from the previous day at ₩263,000. With the stock moving opposite to the blowout earnings, brokerages coined a new term: the 'stock-price emotion ratio', or 'PGR' for short, meaning a stock won't rise unless it moves investors emotionally. JTBC also pointed to mechanical selling from semiconductor ETF rebalancing and the wind-down of a ₩15 trillion share buyback as factors weighing on the stock. Jaekyung Ilbo (Oct 8) likewise reported that PGR was being tossed around the market right after the earnings release to describe the gap between earnings and share price.

  StocksSamsung ElectronicsNew

• ‘Jeongbyeong’ — the word that topped this year’s slang, an ‘age of warring anxieties’

  ‘Jeongbyeong’ is short for ‘mental illness’, and young Koreans use it to name an anxiety they can’t quite define. In its 80th-anniversary special, the Kyunghyang Shinmun (Oct 6) used social big-data platform Sometrend to track slang mentions on social media and forums from Jan 2015 to Aug 2026: after ‘Hell Joseon’ in 2016 came ‘sohwakhaeng’ (small but certain happiness, 2018), ‘gatsaeng’ (god-life, 2022) and ‘nukalhyeop’ and ‘alppano’ (who forced you? / not my problem, 2024), and in 2026 ‘jeongbyeong’ overwhelmed them all. It attaches to other words — looks-jeongbyeong, weight-jeongbyeong, midface-jeongbyeong, school-ranking-jeongbyeong, small-town-jeongbyeong — and the paper argued it appears wherever society imposes a single ‘right answer’. Of 100 young people the paper interviewed, 74 spoke of anxiety, 43 had had counseling or psychiatric care, and 69 had seen a fortune-teller or shaman. Kyunghyang called this the ‘age of warring jeongbyeong’, a pun on China’s Warring States period.

  CatchphraseAnxietyNew
• 01

  Bukangi — 205,000 visitors over the three-day Hangul Day weekend, more than 1.34 million in total

  ‘Bukangi’, the shark that entered the artificial canal at Busan North Port Waterfront Park on September 18, was identified through close-range footage analyzed by the National Institute of Fisheries Science as a female dusky shark about 3 m long (Kuki News, Oct 7). According to the Korea Economic Daily (Oct 9), cumulative park visitors counted by the Busan Facilities Corporation since September 19 passed 1,202,800 on Hangul Day, October 9. According to YTN (Oct 10), cumulative visitors stood at about 1,276,000 as of 6 p.m. on the 10th. With the holiday over, the tally is in. According to Busan Facilities Corporation figures reported by the Financial News (Oct 11), 205,000 people visited the North Port waterfront park over the three-day Hangul Day weekend (Oct 9 to 6 p.m. Oct 11) — 74,000 on the 9th, 75,000 on the 10th and 56,000 on the 11th — bringing the cumulative total to 1,348,800. The earlier National Foundation Day weekend (Oct 3–5) drew 264,000. According to Dailian (Oct 11), Bukangi has now stayed in the canal for 24 days, and authorities have put up tape around some stairs and lawns in the park to keep people out. Two rescue attempts to return her to the sea have both failed, and authorities are monitoring her, expecting she may head back to sea on her own once the water cools. According to the Korea Economic Daily (Oct 8), the National Institute of Fisheries Science officially confirmed an abrasion on Bukangi’s snout during an emergency field survey on the 7th, presumably from scraping a structure or the bottom while turning sharply after being startled by lantern light at night. The institute said her health is still good. The water is around 23.5°C, but if it falls below 18°C the cold-sensitive dusky shark may struggle to stay. Merchandise has appeared too. According to the Hankook Ilbo (Oct 8), Busan liquor maker Daesun Distillery released a ‘Daesun Bukangi Edition’ with Bukangi on the label, and according to Edaily (Oct 9), 71% of 381 kindergarten parents said she should ‘just be left alone’ (Teambrains·Dongseonambuk, Oct 1–7). The naming game has spread to other animals. According to Dailian and SBS (Oct 8), a video of a wild otter swimming close to people walking along Busan’s Oncheoncheon stream on October 6 was posted on Social media (Threads), and netizens nicknamed it ‘Oncheoni’ after Bukangi. The person who posted it said “Busan feels like it’s turning into an aquarium.” The otter is Natural Monument No. 330 and a Class I endangered species, and traces of otters had been found around Oncheoncheon and the Suyeong River before.

  Dusky shark1.27 millionOncheoni

• Soyeon’s ‘I’ll Quit’ — four music show wins, and now AI face-swap stages

  It’s ‘I’ll Quit (Narr. Kian84)’, the title track of (G)I-DLE Soyeon’s first full album ‘An Amazing Life’, released on September 7. Its theme and lyrics about quitting your job struck a chord with office workers. According to Media Pen (Oct 5), it hit No. 1 on Melon, Genie and Bugs real-time and daily charts, YouTube Music’s weekly top songs, FLO, VIBE and iChart for a perfect all-kill, and won Mnet’s ‘M Countdown’ on October 1 and SBS’s ‘Inkigayo’ on October 4. According to News1 (Oct 6), it also held No. 1 on Genie Music’s weekly chart (Sept 28–Oct 4), and according to Star News (Oct 6), it placed 2nd in Melon’s Weekly Popularity Award with 65.65 points, behind Lim Young-woong’s ‘Ddo Ddo’ (70.32). According to Edaily (Oct 6), after broadcast promotions ended, fancams from university festival stages spread again as short-form clips, and recently generative AI videos that swap your own face onto her music show performances, as if you were on stage yourself, have been popular on Social media. It also drew attention as an homage to Ixi’s ‘Please Take Care of Me’, the 2005 MBC University Song Festival grand-prize song. According to TopStar News (Oct 8), Soyeon rose 84 points from the previous day to 2,529 points and 5th place on the Musician100 chart, and ‘I’ll Quit’ held No. 1 on five music platforms. According to Ilgan Sports (Oct 11), Soyeon took No. 1 on SBS’s ‘Inkigayo’ on the 11th with 5,366 points, beating ATEEZ’s ‘Bad’ and RESCENE’s ‘Love Attack’, for her fourth music show win after ‘M Countdown’ on October 1, ‘Inkigayo’ on the 4th and MBC’s ‘Show! Music Core’ on the 10th. As of 6 p.m. that day it was also No. 1 on Melon’s TOP100, HOT100 and daily charts.

  4 music show winsOffice workers

• ‘Copy Kim Min’ — the ‘Dongducheon natural man’ from I Live Alone, tearing baguettes and reading on a motorbike

  Actor Kim Min (“The Roundup: No Way Out”, “Smugglers”, “Casino”) appeared on MBC's “I Live Alone” on Oct 2 as the ‘Dongducheon natural man’. According to Sports Kyunghyang (Oct 3), he lives in an old house built in 1938 in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi, tying door handles with wire, pumping groundwater with a generator and patching the house with cement himself. He sawed a ‘meat-only chair’ in his yard, tore wood-fire-grilled meat apart by hand, and said “I think life is happier when it's a little lacking.” The episode drew a 6.3% Seoul-area household rating and a 3.4% 20–54 rating, No. 1 on Friday (3.5% nationwide on Sept 25). After the broadcast, claims of staging spread online — the house looked different from July Street View, and why use a generator with a utility pole nearby — but according to Ilgan Sports (Oct 7) the production team said it is his real home, with no electricity so the generator is actually used, and that “nothing was staged at all.” Meanwhile the copying spread. According to My Daily (Oct 8), Kim Min posted on his social media on the 8th, with the caption “Copy Kim Min, the trend these days,” videos of netizens roughly biting into food with their hands and lying on a motorbike reading a book under the caption “Catching up with Kim Min's romance.” According to Newsis (Oct 9), MBC announced on social media on the 7th that Kim Min ranked No. 1 among TV-OTT non-drama cast members in Good Data Corporation's FUNdex report for the first week of October, and Kim Min himself said, “There is truly no fakery or setup.”

  I Live AloneParodyNew

• Captain Q — ‘No hangover the next day, because you wake up the day after’: that liquor is back after 11 years

  According to Kyunghyang Shinmun (Oct 8), Lotte Chilsung Beverage has brought back 'Captain Q', discontinued in 2015, after 11 years. Launched in 1980 as Korea's first rum-style liquor, Captain Q sold 10M bottles in its first year and lived on online for years through the joke 'no hangover the next day, because you wake up the day after'. The new version is 360ml, 35% ABV and priced at ₩9,900. A limited 'Treasure Chest' set of 12,000 units, with two bottles, a stainless steel cup and a commemorative coin, is sold at big-box stores and convenience stores. According to Vegan News (Oct 10), store pre-orders at CU closed on the 8th, stock arrives at stores in turn from the 13th, and sales to consumers start on the 14th.

  Re-releaseLotte ChilsungNew

• Lamppost Gentleman & non-human crushes — Lotte World attendance up 29.2%

  ‘Vesper’ is a gentleman character with a streetlamp for a head who appears in Lotte World Adventure's ‘Dark Fantasy Festival’ parade. Lotte World created the character itself, and it appears alongside others such as candle-headed ‘Candra’. According to HuffPost Korea, a Vesper video posted on Lotte World's X account on Sept 16 had 15.8 million views as of Sept 30, and on Sept 28 the Jeonbuk 119 Safety Experience Center posted an Instagram video of a ‘Fire Extinguisher Gentleman’ — a firefighter with a red extinguisher on his head — to teach extinguisher use. According to Maeil Shinmun (Sept 28), hundreds of fan artworks appeared on social media and Lotte World opened an official fan-art contest. The parade runs daily at 8:20 p.m. through Nov 15. According to the Korea Economic Daily (Oct 5), Lotte World attendance rose 29.2% week over week after the Vesper parade began (Sept 12), and searches for ‘inoe’ (non-human characters) on creative marketplace Crepe rose 26.34% month over month in September. LS Securities and Suncheon city's official accounts posted parodies, and webtoon artist Jindol's related video passed 1 million views in two days. According to on-site reporting by JoongAng Ilbo (Oct 7), crowds gather an hour before the parade to claim front spots, and fans have nicknamed him the ‘Lotte World lamp guy’. Lotte World's Vesper video on social media passed 15 million views in a week, and attendance rose 29% after the show opened. Lotte World performance director Park Jae-young called it encouraging that a home-grown character has a fandom big enough to spawn fancams and parodies. According to on-site reporting by Newsis (Oct 10), the area in front of the Garden Stage was crowded 30 minutes before the Oct 7 parade, with one visitor saying they had held a spot since 4 p.m. and some visitors in their 20s and 30s on their second trip. Newsis said ‘inoe-com’ — an attraction to non-human beings — has spread among Gen Z, noting that Naver Map, Bibigo and Yeogi Eottae have also launched characters that personify objects or logos.

  CharacterNew

• TS Malfoy

  Fan works that gender-swap (‘TS’) Harry Potter's supporting character Draco Malfoy into a woman. According to Wolyo Shinmun (Oct 8), it took off in English-speaking subculture communities late last month, striking a chord by recasting the rivalry between half-blood Harry and the snobbish upper-class Malfoy as a romance growing out of contempt. On X, an English tweet saying “Korea already had a 110-chapter female-Malfoy fanfic five years ago” drew more than 12 million views; it introduced “Villainess Malfoy”, a web novel by an amateur writer serialized for free on Korean web-novel platform N. In Japan, a post lamenting “we're importing female Malfoy from abroad — Japan has fallen behind” got 3.4 million views, and Hololive VTuber Laplus Darknesss (1.58 million YouTube subscribers) showed interest in the novel and ran a live stream learning Korean.

  Harry Potterweb novelNew

• Merit keyrings · Seokga Money — open runs, with foreigners in line too

  The 'merit keyring', said to add one unit of Buddhist merit every time you press it, spread on social media. According to Jaekyung Ilbo (Oct. 1), Jogyesa temple sold the 500 it got around Sept. 17 within a day, and Bongeunsa put up a sold-out notice on Sept. 29. BTN Buddhist TV (Oct. 5) reports that Bongeunsa's 'moktak merit keyring' — a keyboard keycap topped with a tiny wooden temple block that makes a moktak sound when pressed — sold all 6,000 units restocked on Sept. 23 within seven hours, and people line up an hour before each sale. It started with the 'Buddhist-core' trend among people in their 20s and 30s and now draws grandparents in their 60s and 70s buying gifts and foreign visitors who come to temples after watching KPop Demon Hunters. Jaekyung Ilbo also noted the 'digital moktak' in the app Seokga Money, which lets you tap a temple block on your phone. According to eKorea News (Oct 6), a new batch that arrived at Bongeunsa on Oct 2 also sold out the same day.

  Buddhist chicNew

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