Trends

Five Korean Gen Z Trend Keywords for 2026: NetWHATking, Scroll Pick, Balance-shim and More

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AI-generated open sketchbook with unfinished flower drawings, a pencil and a cup, with a handwritten note about making progress.

AT A GLANCE

Source
KT's 2026 Y Trend conference (announced Aug 21, 2026)
Made by
KT's student marketing supporters 'Y Futurist' and the Univ.Tomorrow 20s Research Institute
Five keywords
NetWHATking, Scroll Pick, Balance-shim, 현재진행력, Try-ator
Caution
Ideas from one project, not a description of every young Korean

KT, a Korean telecom company, published five Gen Z trend keywords for 2026 together with a student marketing program and a youth research institute. They are NetWHATking, Scroll Pick, Balance-shim, 현재진행력 (hyeonjae-jinhaenglyeok) and Try-ator. This guide explains each in plain terms. They come from one project, not from a survey of all young Koreans. Checked on 2026-10-12.

The hero image is AI-generated and is not a photo from a KT event.

Where the list comes from

The keywords were announced on August 21, 2026 after KT’s 2026 Y Trend Conference & Customer Listening Forum on August 20. They were developed by KT’s university-student marketing supporters, Y Futurist, with the Univ.Tomorrow 20s Research Institute, which studies young adults (Herald Business, in Korean; KT release via PublicNow).

The five keywords

1. NetWHATking “What” placed inside “networking.” Relationships form around taste and experience, not school or workplace connections.

2. Scroll Pick Discovering a product while scrolling through an algorithm-recommended feed and buying it right away, without having searched for it.

3. Balance-shim (밸런쉼) “Balance” plus shim, the Korean word for rest. Restoring balance of body and mind through rest as a way to manage everyday life.

4. 현재진행력 Roughly “the drive to keep going.” An attitude of sharing the growth process, including failures, and keep taking on challenges and building experience.

5. Try-ator “Try” plus “creator.” A new type of creator who uses AI to turn a creative idea into an actual work and joins a range of creative activities.

What happened at the event

According to Herald Business, KT held its 2026 Y Trend Conference & Customer Listening Forum on August 20 at the On-madang, WEST wing of KT Gwanghwamun Building in Seoul. It was the fourth edition, and Y Futurist and the Univ.Tomorrow 20s Research Institute use it to find and share Gen Z trends and business ideas.

  • Customer listening forum: participants shared their own experiences with each trend and ideas for improving services.
  • How it will be used: KT plans to reflect that feedback and the trend analysis in products, services and customer experience.
  • What KT said: Kim Young-geol, head of KT’s Customer business unit, said the student-found trends let KT see changes in Gen Z’s interests and lifestyles more vividly.

The report says Gen Z members found and picked the keywords themselves. More detail is said to be available on KT’s official YouTube channel and the research institute’s online channels.

Where last year’s keywords were used

The same report gives examples of last year’s keywords used in real marketing.

  • “N-noller”: used in a Y Box baseball and basketball ticket event and a YouTube collaboration campaign.
  • “Deutfault”: applied to iPhone 17 marketing.

This year’s keywords may become starting points for product and campaign planning in a similar way.

How to read these keywords

  • They are labels from one marketing project. They describe tendencies that the authors observed, not rules for a whole generation.
  • Scroll Pick suggests a practical habit: if an unplanned purchase tempts you, saving it to a wishlist and checking again later is one common way to slow down.
  • Try-ator describes the use of AI as a starting point. Choosing, checking and improving the output is still the user’s work.

Good for / not for

Good for

  • Anyone curious about how Korean brands talk about young consumers
  • Marketers and students looking for 2026 keyword examples

Not for

  • Anyone who wants survey data.

Sources

Checked on 2026-10-12. The keyword definitions follow the Herald Business report.