No business can thrive without understanding their consumers. The purpose of this slide is to help set up most effective business strategy for Korean market based on the solid understanding about the current status and behaviours of Internet Usage. As one of the most digitally connected society in the world, diving into Korea’s Internet usage trend will provide essential insights to marketers and business development professionals to build digital strategies in the future.

1. Understanding Internet
Usage Trend in South Korea

2. Research objective
No business can thrive without understanding their consumers.
The purpose of this slide is to help set up most effective business strategy for
Korean market based on the solid understanding about the current status and
behaviours of Internet Usage.
As one of the most digitally connected society in the world, diving into Korea’s
Internet usage trend will provide essential insights to marketers and business
development professionals to build digital strategies in the future.

3. Contents
CATEGORY 01_Internet Usage
 General Key Figures
 Instant Messenger
 Social NetworkingSites
 E-commerce
 Video Service App/Sites
 Search Platforms
 Over-The-TopMedia Services
CATEGORY 02_Emerging Trend
 Voice RecognitionService
 Cloud Computing Service
 5G Smartphone Usage

4. Understanding
the market
Emerging TrendCategory 01
Internet Usage

5. GENERAL KEY
FIGURES
INTERNET USAGE RATE
91.8%
‘Communication’ (95.4%),‘Data and
Informationacquisition’(94.0%) and
‘LeisureActivities’(94.0%) are top 3
usage reasons.
VIDEO USAGE RATE
81.2%
In case of the 20s, 93.2% use video
services, followedby 30s (89.5%) and
10s (88.5%).
SMARTPHONE USAGE RATE
90.5%
90.5% of populationaged 3 and over
are smartphone users
Source: Internet Usage Survey of Korea in 2019by National Information Society Agency in Korea [Link]
One of the most digitally connectedcountry in the world, Internet penetration rate in Korea
is at 91.8%. Smartphoneusage rate and video usage rate are at 90.5% and 81.2%
respectively. Marketers must ensure that their contents are mobile optimised as well as
being able to resonate with Korean consumers during their micro-moments.
Considering its significantvideo usage rate, brands may create video contentsfocusing on
entertaining elements, for example ASMR Mukbang, prevalenttheme from the top 25
popular YouTubers in Korea based on the number of subscribers as of June 2020.

6. INSTANT
MESSENGER
96.3%of Internetusersaged6 and over usedInstant Messenger. Primarypurpose is ‘Chatting’
(100%), followedby ‘Photo, video, scheduleand work file sharing’ (81.5%) and ‘Voiceand video
call’ (55.8%). KakaoTalk,a messagingplatform fromKakao,a SouthKoreanInternet company,
is themessageapp ofchoicefor Koreans.
KakaoTalk has a variety of advertising options, optimisedfor both B2C and B2B companies.
Some companiesare trying to connect with the consumers through KakaoTalk Channel (Check
Citibankand Samsung’s KakaoTalk Channel). Consideringthat Korean consumersare showing
declinednegative perceptiontowards the digital advertising (from 33.0% in 2018 to 14.3% in
2019. Digitaladvertisingis favoured due to its educationaland entertainingaspects), KakaoTalk
can be oneof thepotential channelsto engagetheKorean consumers inthefuture.
KAKAOTALK
99.3%
FACEBOOK MESSENGER
26.0%
INSTAGRAM MESSENGER
13.7%
Source: Internet Usage Survey of Korea in 2019by National Information Society Agency in Korea [Link]
Source: 당신에게 필요한 건 지금 이것...모바일마케팅 승부는 타겟광고 [Link]

7. SOCIAL
NETWORKING
SITES
FACEBOOK
63.4%
INSTAGRAM
49.9%
KAKAO STORY
38.1%
63.8% of Internet users aged 6 and over used SNS.Primary purpose is
‘Friendship/fellowship’ (80.0%),followed by ‘To look at contents posted by others’
(61.0%) and ‘To share personal interests suchas hobby/leisure’ (43.9%).Facebook
and Instagram are leading players in Korean market.
If you’replanning to start social listening,monitoring and advertising, focus on
Facebookand Instagram first. Make target audience feel connected and
entertained, apparently the top reason that Koreans use the social media.
Source: Internet Usage Survey of Korea in 2019by National Information Society Agency in Korea [Link]
NAVER BAND
37.2%

8. E-COMMERCE
64.1% of Internet users aged 12 and over used Internet shopping.Average
monthly expense is 114,163won(US$95)/month.Primary items to purchase are
‘Apparel,shoes, sports goods, accessories’(87.8%),followedby ‘Movies,cultural
performances’ (56.0%)and ‘Books, magazines, newspapers’ (50.6%).
Take note of those 4 key players. Ebay Korea is expanding market using
membership programme while11 Street and NaverShopping are engaging
shoppers with personalized search results based on AI analysis. Coupang is well
known for the ‘RocketDelivery’,whichensures same day delivery.
Source: "쿠팡 무서운 성장 막아라"…이베이·11번가 추격전 [Link]
11 STREET
₩ 9Trillion
Approx. US$7B
*
COUPANG
₩ 12Trillion
Approx. US$10B
*
*Transactionamount in 2019
NAVER SHOPPING
₩ 9Trillion
Approx. US$7B
*
EBAY KOREA
₩16Trillion
Approx. US$13B
*
**
**Ebay Korea owns G Market and Auction Korea

9. VIDEO SERVICE
APP/SITE
YouTube is thedominantleaderhaving 76.9%usagerate.Domesticplayers such as Naver and Afreeca
TV followedwith 36.1% and 17.8% usage rates respectively.YouTubehasseen the soaringgrowthin
Koreain recentyears,partly due to the rich global content libraries,which local competitorscan’t
compete with, and better creator economics,which makes more and more creators flock to the platform.
‘YouTube Creator’ has became the new career path for some young Koreans, who are interested in
focusingon theirinterests and expressingtheir thoughts onlinefor income.
Brands mayusethe global YouTubestrategyfor Koreanmarketas well. Specifically, for Korean
market,foodrelatedcontentscan be pushed out consideringthe popularityof ‘Mukbang’. It isseen that
2 Korean YouTubers, includedamong the top 10 Break-Out YouTubersin 2019, are food vloggers.
Check out these vloggers: 백종원의요리비책Paik's Cuisinefrom Korea’s celebritychef Baek Jong-won
and 하루한끼 one meal a day, a channel sharing cookingand recipevideos.
YOUTUBE
76.9%
NAVER (PORTAL SITE, NAVER TV)
36.1%
AFREECA TV
17.8%
Source: Internet Usage Survey of Korea in 2019by National Information Society Agency in Korea [Link]
Source: YouTube has seen soaring growth in South Korea [Link]
Source: YouTube Rewind 2019: For the Record [Link]

10. SEARCH
PLATFORMS
NAVER
92.4%
YOUTUBE
60.0%
GOOGLE
56.0%
Naver remained to be the leader in the search platform market with 92.4% usage
rate. YouTube and Google followedwith 60.0% and 56.0% usage rates respectively.
Considering that international platforms are enjoying rapidly growingpopularity
in Korea recently, it is more recommended for international marketers to focus on
those international platforms rather than Naver.It is reported that YouTube and
Google are more preferred among consumers in their 10s and 20s compared to
older generation. Make sure that goodSEO/SEMstrategies are in place to get
traffic and visibilityfrom potentialcustomers. If you’restillinterested in Naver
SEO/SEM,you may checkthe further resourcesfrom Search Engine Journal [Link1,
Link2].
Source: Netizen Profile Research 2019, Korea Onlinead Association[Link]
DAUM
37.6%

11. Paid OTT (Over-
the-top) video
services
With regard to the paid OTT video market, YouTube Premium and Netflix
are market leaders. Wavve, Korean video streaming platform, followed.
YOUTUBE PREMIUM
11%
NETFLIX
10%
WAVVE
6%
Source: '유튜브·넷플릭스' 파죽지세…이용·만족률 '우위' [Link]
* * *
*based on online survey on those using smartphone for video contents (n=2,972)

12. Paid OTT (Over-
the-top) audio
services
Music streaming market is dominated by domestic players. Melon, operated
by Kakao, is the most popular serviced followed by Genie Music, from South
Korea’s largest telecommunication company KT Corporation.
(At the time of this writing, July 2020, there is news that Spotify is planning
to launch in Korea in 2020)
MELON
17%
Source: '유튜브·넷플릭스' 파죽지세…이용·만족률 '우위' [Link]
*
GENIE
8%
*
YOUTUBE PREMIUM
6%
*
*based on online survey on those using smartphone for music (n=2,952)
FLO
6%
*

13. Understanding
the market
Category 02
Emerging Trend

14. Voice Recognition
Service
Voice Assistant is becoming popular in Korea. As of Jul 2019, the AI voice
recognition service usage is at 25.2%. In terms of age, 20s is the highest at 42.3%
followed by 30s (38.9%) and 40s (31.2%).
‘Smartphone voice recognition service’ (16.4%) and ‘AI speaker’ (10.5%) are the
most popular devices while ‘Listening to music/radio/news’ (54.9%) and
‘Whether/traffic information’ (46.8%) are the most used functions.
Still, the market is heavily dominated by domestic players such as KT, Naver,
Kakao and Samsung Electronics (Until recently, it was only South Korean
companies that offered voice assistants in the country at all. The Korean language is
notoriously difficult for natural language understanding programs to understand).
Despite the privacy concerns, AI speakers were hugely picked up by Koreans
especially during the first half of 2020, in the midst of pandemic, to track/fight
against the pandemic [Link 1, Link 2]
Source: Internet Usage Survey of Korea in 2019by National Information Society Agency in Korea [Link]
Photo source: AI Speaker Wars, Round 1: Kakao Mini and Naver Wave Fly Off the Shelves [Link]

15. Cloud Computing
Service
30.8%of Internetusersaged12 and overusecloud service.
Primarypurposewas ‘Data and information management’for both work
(60.1%) and personal reasons (55.7%). ‘Document editing’(22.7%) is
relativelyhigher among workrelatedpurposeswhile‘Multi-media
contentssharing’ (49.4%)and ‘Synchronizationand management of
scheduleand contactin thedevice’ (37.2%) are relativelyhigher among
personalreasons.
Whilethere isno specificdata on market share, industrywatchers
estimatethat AWSaccountsfor abouthalf oftheKoreancloud service
market.Samsung, LG and other conglomerate have adoptedAWS cloud
computingfor businessmanagement.
Source: Internet Usage Survey of Korea in 2019by National Information Society Agency in Korea [Link]
Source: Competition grows over ‘edge cloud’ computing market in Korea [Link]

16. 5G Smartphone
6.2% of Internetusersaged3 andover usewirelessInternetvia 5G
smartphone.
At thetime of this writing(Jul 2020), thereare6.9 million 5G subscribers
with 115,000 5G basestationacrossthecountry.Increase of demand for
high capacityvideo service and the size of AR/VRmarket that are
conjunctionwith 5G willresult in the increase of 5G service usage in the
future. 5G based AR VR is improvingKorean consumerexperiencein
various sectors from entertainment to education [Link 1, Link2].
Source: Internet Usage Survey of Korea in 2019by National Information Society Agency in Korea [Link]
Source: South Korea nears 7 million 5G subscribers [Link]

17. Thank you.