This year too Google has published the zietgeist for 2012 highlighting the top 10 most searched people in South Korea. The list is dominated by females K-POP stars with only two male celebrities making it to the list and one of them is not even a K-POP star. Surprisingly Lee Min Ho does not feature in this list.

Top 10 Most Searched People in South Korea for the year 2012

IU – 아이유
Real Name (Lee Ji-eun – 이지은) born May 16, 1993, better known by her stage name IU (Korean: 아이유), is a South Korean singer and actress. Her stage name is derived from the phrase “I and You”, which symbolizes that we can become one through music. In South Korea, she is often referred to as the “Nation’s Little Sister” due to her various personality traits. Her fan club name is U-ana (Uaena), where each syllable has a different meaning: “you” is from English, “ae” is Sino-Korean for “love”, and “na” is Korean for “me”.

T-Ara – 티아라
T-ara is a South Korean girl group (Bo peep Bo peep) that debuted in 2009 under Core Contents Media. The meaning behind the group’s name, which is based on the word “tiara”, comes from the idea that they will become the “queens of the music industry”. Originally a five-member group composed of Jiae, Jiwon, Eunjung, Hyomin, and Jiyeon, they released their first song “Joheun Saram” (좋은 사람, “Good Person”) for the soundtrack of the Korean drama Cinderella Man in April 2009. After Jiae and Jiwon withdrew from the group in June, T-ara debuted as a six-member group with the addition of Boram, Qri, and Soyeon in July 2009.

Kim Soo-hyun – 김수현
Kim Soo-hyun (born February 16, 1988) is a South Korean actor, model and singer best known for his roles as Song Sam-dong in the KBS TV series Dream High and fictional king of Joseon Lee Hwon in the MBC historical drama Moon Embracing the Sun.

Ahn Cheol-soo – 안철수
Ahn Cheol-soo (born February 26, 1962), also known as Charles Ahn, is a South Korean businessman, politician, and former professor. He founded AhnLab, Inc. (also known as Ahnlab), an antivirus software company, in 1995. Until September 2012, Ahn was the dean of the Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology at Seoul National University and also serves as chairman of the board of AhnLab and its Chief Learning Officer, and chairman of the board of Noritown Studio, originally an internal corporate venture of AhnLab, now operating as a separate entity.

Lee Ha Yi- 이하이
Lee Ha Yi (born September 23, 1996), better known by her stage name Lee Hi, is a South Korean singer managed by YG Entertainment. She is known as the SBS’s “Survival K-Pop Star” runner-up of 2011. Her debut single “1,2,3,4″, was released in on October 28, 2012 and reached #1 with the first-week sales of 667,549 downloads. Following the launch of her solo career, Lee Hi is expected to debut as a member of forthcoming girl group SuPearls under YG Entertainment in the near future.

Suzy – 수지
Bae Sue Ji (born October 10, 1994), commonly known by her stage name Suzy, is a South Korean idol singer, dancer, actress, model and MC. Best known for her roles as Go Hye-mi in the KBS2 TV series Dream High. She is a member of the Korean girl group Miss A, which debuted under JYP Entertainment in 2010.

PSY – 싸이
Park Jae-sang (born December 31, 1977), better known by his stage name PSY, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, rapper, dancer, and record producer. PSY is best known for his humorous videos and stage performances, and for his international hit single “Gangnam Style“, whose refrain “Oppan Gangnam Style” was entered into The Yale Book of Quotations as one of the most famous quotes of 2012.

So Nyo Shi Dae – 소녀시대
So Nyo Shi Dae, popularly known as Girls’ Generation, is a South Korean girl group formed by S.M. Entertainment in 2007. They are known in Japan as Shoujo Jidai and are referred to as SoShi (소시) or SNSD by their fans, both abbreviated forms of the group’s Korean name. The group nine member group consists of Taeyeon, Jessica, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona and Seohyun.

Park Jimin – 박지민
Park Jimin (born July 5, 1997) is a South Korean singer of Korean girl duo managed by JYP Entertainment. She is from Daejeon and known as the winner of SBS’s 2011 “Survival K-Pop Star”.

Kim Hyuna – 현아
Kim Hyuna (born June 6, 1992) is a South Korean idol, singer, songwriter, dancer, rapper, designer, model, and a member of the Korean girl group 4Minute, under Cube Entertainment. She is best known for being in PSY’s music video, “Gangnam Style.” She describes her own solo career as “performance-oriented music”. She is also a former member of the girl group Wonder Girls.