The News, Explained
NAVER announced Trend in the Papago app on October 19, 2026. It collects Korean products and places attracting interest from foreign visitors and connects them to detailed information and tools for planning a visit. Source
With the device language set to a language other than Korean, users enter through Trend at the upper right of the app home. It supports English, Japanese, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese; other foreign-language settings receive English. That language range also matters when reading the linked information. Source
Popularity here reflects image-translation usage by foreign visitors: products and places frequently looked up while translating text in pictures, plus those attracting rising interest. Product sections are TOP 100, Rising, Beauty, Food and Health. Places offer TOP 100, Rising and regional Hot Spots. Source
Selecting a product opens an AI briefing with key information and links to blogs and NAVER Shopping for reviews and details. Place listings show NAVER Place opening hours, location, menus and user reviews, with onward access to directions and reservation tools. Hot Spots groups destinations by areas such as Myeongdong, Hongdae and Seongsu in Seoul, as well as Jeju and Busan. Source
Links from image translations to place and product information arrived in April. July added restaurant information from Tabelog and AI product briefings for photographs of Japanese signs and products. The October announcement centres on Trend’s discovery lists built around translation usage. Source
OYOPICK’s Take
These lists make a useful starting point for finding where visitors’ interest is gathering. After seeing what people frequently translate, a traveller can build a more specific basis for choosing by reading translated reviews and checking opening hours and location against the itinerary.
The connection from regional suggestions to menus and directions looks particularly useful: it lets a visitor move from understanding an unfamiliar name to considering an actual visit. We would judge the experience by how well the translated details support that next choice.