South Korea has a highly developed internet landscape, with 82.1% of the population using the internet. 94.6% of internet users also use mobile phones, with 9 out of 10 using smartphones powered by Android. Popular services include KakaoTalk, the leading instant messenger with 140 million global users, and social networking sites are popular for socializing and hobbies. Online shopping is also popular, with 50.4% of internet users making purchases and the average amount spent being 50,000-60,200 South Korean Won.

1. Digital Korea
STONE’s Round-up of South Korea’s Internet Landscape
2014

2. South Korea
COUNTRY OVERVIEW

3. 48,827,329Total Population
40,080,000
Total Internet Users
Statistics Korea - Households Projections for Korea as of 2013
Survey on the Internet Usage - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP)
/Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013

4. Survey on the Internet Usage - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP)
/Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013
of the population
use the internet
82.1%

5. Survey on the Internet Usage - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP)
/Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013
Men use the internet more
ofen than women
86.2%Male
78%Female

6. Survey on the Internet Usage - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP)
/Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013
Average time spent on the Internet
14 to 21 hours per week

7. Survey on the Internet Usage - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP)
/Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013
What are they doing online?
Getting information/
data 91.3%
financial transaction
41.8%
music, games etc
86.4%
Blogging
37.1%
e-mail, Instant
messenger etc 85.5%
education/
learning 19%
shopping/selling
46.3%
online community
17.5%
software download/
upgrade 12.4%
job search
9.2%
File sharing (P2P etc.)
7.3%

8. Survey on the Internet Usage - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP)
/Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013
52.6%
Male
40.6%
Female
Women use
online
shopping/
selling more
than Men

9. Survey on the Internet Usage - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP)
/Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013
Meanwhile, Men use the
internet more for: ‘software
download/upgrades (14.6%)’
or ‘file sharing (8.9%)’

10. Smart Phones
USAGE

11. Survey on the Internet Usage - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP)
/Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013
94.6% internet users use mobile phones
9 out of 10 use
smartphones

12. MSIP, wired and wireless communication service subscription statistics, 2013
internet subscribers with smartphones
34,665,000 users

13. Survey on the Internet Usage - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP)
/Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013
Where do they use the internet?
Home
91.6%
Work/Office
36%
Internet Cafe
14.8%
School
4.5%

14. 88.7% use Android OS
Korea Internet White Paper - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP) /Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013

15. smartphone users
on LTE
Korea Internet White Paper - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future
Planning(MSIP) /Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013
58%

16. Standard speed of an
LTE-A (Advanced)
service
Up to
Korea Internet White Paper - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future
Planning(MSIP) /Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013
300
mbps

17. Instant
Messengers

18. 7/10 said they used Instant
Messengers in the last week
82.7% use IMs
Survey on the Internet Usage - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP)
/Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013

19. Survey on the Internet Usage - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP)
/Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013
82.7% use IMs
once a day for
personal use

20. Top Instant Messaging Providers
Survey on the Internet Usage - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP)
/Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013
Kakao has been able
to create its own
ecosystem with hit games
like Anipang and Dragon
Flight. KakaoTalk, Kakao
Game and Kakao Story,
stands out.
One of the pioneer search
engines in South Korea. IT
has since expanded its
business to other services
and have targetted
markets on Asia.

21. Kakao Talk
Instant Messenger
IN FOCUS

22. Global Subscribers
of KakaoTalk:
140 Million
Users
South Korea App Annie Index for Apps, September 2014 - blog.appannie.com
Example of KakaoTalk
Character Stickers

23. average time spent on KakaoTalk
62 minutes a day
Lee, Youkyung, Messaging apps show mobile Internet's rise in Asia, The Associated Press
- bigstory.ap.org/article/messaging-apps-show-mobile-internets-rise-asia

24. South Korea App Annie Index for Apps, September 2014 - blog.appannie.com
KakaoTalk is
As of Sept 2014 in the
Apple iOS and Android
Google Play Store
Top App
by Download
& Revenue
#1

25. Social Networking
Site

26. Survey on the Internet Usage - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP)
/Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013
9/10use profile-based
pages like Facebook

27. Top 3 uses are Microblogs (33.7%),
Minihompy (28.6%) and Blog (27%)
Most users are
20-year-olds
Survey on the Internet Usage - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP)
/Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013

28. 1 To socialize (79.5%)
2 For my hobbies and leisure (51.3%)
3 To record my daily life (49.6%)
4 To share personal interests (43.6%)
5 To share information or knowledge (35%)
Top 5 Uses
of Social Networking Sites
Survey on the Internet Usage - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP)
/Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013

29. “The 2012 presidential election campaign saw a focus
of onliner campaign to mobile SNS channels.”
“... Podcasts, YouTube videos, and mobile messengers
became crucial for the strategies of the political parties.”
Korea Internet White Paper - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP) /Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013

30. 175% increase in Tweets daily
90 days before the presidential elections
Korea Internet White Paper - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP) /Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013

31. Online
Shopping

32. Survey on the Internet Usage - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP)
/Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013
50.4%
made
a purchase
online
Among Internet shoppers,
₩ ₩ ₩ ₩
₩ ₩ ₩ ₩

33. Survey on the Internet Usage - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP)
/Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013
Women use online shopping
more than men
44.2%Male
57.3%Female

34. Online shoppers by age group
20s 30s 40s
81.% 72.9% 47.4%
Survey on the Internet Usage - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP)
/Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013

35. Average frequency of purchase for online shoppers
Survey on the Internet Usage - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP)
/Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013
Twice a month

36. Average amount for each purchase
Survey on the Internet Usage - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP)
/Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013
50,000-60,200W

37. 86.2% respondents agreed but has reduced 2.8% since 2012
Most online shoppers
Survey on the Internet Usage - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP)
/Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013
Still use desktop computers

38. Rate increased by 19.4% since 2012.
But some
43.2% use mobile phones
Survey on the Internet Usage - Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning(MSIP)
/Korea Internet & Security Agency(KISA), 2013