Excel-lookalike stock site draws 19,334 visits in Korea

A website that mimics Microsoft Excel's spreadsheet interface to let office workers secretly monitor Korean and U.S. stock prices in real time had logged 19,334 cumulative visits by 10 a.m. Friday, Hankook Ilbo reported.

The site's viral spread has rekindled debate in Korea about whether a growing investment obsession among salaried workers is undermining on-the-clock productivity.

The site, dubbed "Excel Kospi," replicates Excel's green-bordered grid design to display live Korean and U.S. market data, cryptocurrency prices and financial news alongside a watchlist tracker, making it difficult for supervisors to distinguish from an ordinary spreadsheet. The Korea Times, citing Hankook Ilbo, reported that the site describes itself as "a stock quote site designed to look like an Excel screen that people secretly view at work."

Users can enter average purchase prices and share quantities to track portfolio gains and losses without opening a separate brokerage application. Actual trading is not supported on the platform.

Any visitor who skips creating a custom username is automatically labeled "salary thief" — Korean slang for employees who collect pay without contributing meaningfully to their employer.

The site drew divided reactions online. Some praised the concept: "It's a great idea," one anonymous user said, according to the Korea Times. Another called it "perfect for using at work."

Others said the site's traction reflects a troubling shift in workplace priorities. "These days, office workers care more about stocks than their jobs. They check stocks on their way to work, during office hours and again after they get home," one commenter said. A second user raised a longer-term concern: "Companies need to grow for stock prices to rise, but if everyone spends their time investing in stocks, growth will eventually come to a halt."

The site also offers a beta version that masks stock data as Outlook email messages, with individual tickers appearing as correspondence from corporate figures — Samsung Electronics shares, for instance, are displayed as messages from Lee Jae-yong — according to the Korea Times.