The 'Korea's Hawaii' Mentioned Only Once in Squid Game... Soaring Global Popularity

The Netflix drama "Squid Game," which has recently gained huge popularity worldwide, [Photo by Netflix]

[Asia Economy Reporter Su-mi Hwang] As the Netflix drama "Squid Game" gains worldwide popularity, foreign interest in Jeju Island, which was mentioned only once in the drama, is increasing.

On the 16th, according to Google Trends, a search analysis tool by Google, the global search interest for Jeju Island reached a perfect score of 100 during the second week of October (October 10?16). In the same period last year, the interest score was only 19.

Looking in detail, the interest score remained low around 20 points throughout the year, but after recording 17 points in the second week of September (September 12?18), it surged to 100 points within a month.

This phenomenon is analyzed to be due to the influence of Squid Game. The timing of the sharp increase in interest in Jeju Island coincides with the release date of Squid Game on Netflix.

Since Squid Game was first released on the 17th of last month, the search interest for Jeju Island, which was only 17 points, soared to 36 points (September 19?25), 71 points (September 26?October 2), 95 points (October 3?9), and 100 points (October 10?16).

According to Google Trends, keywords that users searched along with Jeju Island included "squid game," "Jeju Island squid game," and "Jeju Island tourist spot."

Jeju Island was mentioned only once in Squid Game. In episode 6, which sparked attention for the term "Kkanbu," Kang Sae-byeok (Jung Ho-yeon) mentions Jeju Island before engaging in a death match with Ji-yeong (Lee Yoo-mi).

In the drama, Kang Sae-byeok says, "I saw it on TV; it didn’t look like Joseon land, it looked just like a foreign country," expressing her wish to visit Jeju Island with her younger sibling if she clears the game.

Meanwhile, according to the Jeju Tourism Association, the number of foreign tourists visiting Jeju Island last year was 212,767, a decrease of 87.7% compared to the previous year (1.73 million).

Due to the spread of COVID-19, the visa-free entry system was suspended and air routes were closed, causing foreign tourists to disappear. This year (January to August), the cumulative number of foreign arrivals was only about 31,000.