Hallyu star Park Bo Gum popularity surged that he replaced Nation's MC Yoo Jae Suk as the most searched star online in 2016.
According to The Chosunilbo, big data analysis SK Telecom revealed that 23-year-old actor topped the year's list for the most-searched South Korean entertainer on the Internet. Based on the results, Park Bo Gum's name was searched 792,560 times, which doubles Yoo Jae Suk's result of 377,018.
Other celebrities included in the top 10 list are:
JYJ's Park Yu-chun (339,966)
"Descendants of the Sun" actor Song Joong-ki (274,393)
Go champion Lee Se-dol (268,023)
Retired figure skater Kim Yu-na (166,237)
Actress Kim Min-hee (109,034)
"Descendants of the Sun" actress Song Hye-kyo (96,755)
Swimmer Park Tae-hwan (75,099)
Major League Baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Kang Jung-ho (71,489)
Park Bo Gum rose to stardom thanks to his hit dramas "Reply 1988" and "Moonlight Drawn By Clouds" and also surpassed 31-year-old Song Joong-ki as 2016's most favorite drama actor. Because of his hit dramas, Park Bo Gum gained recognition and popularity overseas. He is making waves in China. Park Bo Gum received a number of awards this year including Most Mentioned from SBS' "Cultwo Show" Awards, Star of the Year from OSEN Awards and Best New Actor from the 5th APAN Star Awards for his performance in tvN's "Reply 1988."
Meanwhile, Yoo Jae Suk has been widely popular in Korean with claims that no one in the country does not know him. Some of Yoo Jae Suk's programs are SBS Running Man, KBS Happy Together 3, and MBC Infinity Challenge. This year, the host won his 13th Daesang at MBC Awards for his role in "Infinity Challenge".