Why it matters. Korea is one of the world's most connected markets, and its platform habits show how a tech-savvy population balances loyalty to domestic giants against fast-rising foreign tools like ChatGPT.
Background. Unlike most countries, South Korea's digital life runs largely on home-grown platforms: Naver, not Google, dominates search, and KakaoTalk is so ubiquitous it doubles as a payments and ID layer. Coupang, Baemin and Danggeun (Karrot) are local heavyweights with no direct global-brand equivalent, which is why foreign readers may not recognize them. The data comes from the Ministry of Science and ICT, the government body that regulates telecom and digital services.
What to watch next. Watch whether ChatGPT's strong lead — especially the 92.6% adoption among Koreans in their 20s — pressures Naver and Kakao to push their own AI services harder.
South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT reported on June 3 that ChatGPT is the country’s most-used generative AI tool, while homegrown players still dominate everyday digital life: Naver leads search, KakaoTalk owns messaging, and Coupang tops online shopping. The findings come from the ministry’s annual survey of the value-added telecommunications sector, which polled 2,500 adults about their usage over the previous three months.
What Koreans Actually Use
The survey ranked the No. 1 platform in each major category. In search, Naver — a domestic portal that has long outpaced Google in Korea — held 67.5%. KakaoTalk, the messaging app that functions as Korea’s de facto national communication tool, commanded 92.5% of the messenger category. Instagram led social media at 35.9%, while Coupang, often described as Korea’s answer to Amazon, took 53.6% of e-commerce.
Other category leaders included Google Play in app stores (64.6%), YouTube in video sharing (78.0%), Naver Map in navigation (50.7%), and Baemin (Baedal Minjok), the country’s leading food-delivery app, at 50.6%. In secondhand trading, Danggeun Market — a hyperlocal resale app known abroad as Karrot — dominated with 88.3%.
In generative AI, ChatGPT led with 68.1%, marking the rise of a foreign service in a market where local brands usually win.
How Widespread Is Each Service
Usage rates were near-universal for established categories: search (98.7%), messaging (98.5%), maps and local listings (96.8%), e-commerce (95.6%), and video sharing (92.7%). Generative AI lagged at 78.1% overall — but among Koreans in their 20s, adoption jumped to 92.6%, signaling fast uptake by younger users.
The ministry also measured “multi-homing,” or using two or more competing platforms within the same category. That habit was most common in e-commerce (83.9%), social media (79.9%), and search portals (76.9%), where users readily switch between rivals. It was rarest in secondhand trading (25.9%) and app stores (24.9%), where one dominant player tends to lock users in.
A Half-Quadrillion-Won Market
Behind the rankings is a large and growing industry. Revenue from value-added telecom services reached 502.9 trillion won in 2024 (roughly $370 billion), up 15.3% from the prior year. Of that, digital-platform revenue — money from services that broker both supply and demand, such as e-commerce, app markets, and social networks — came to 161.5 trillion won (about $120 billion), a 5.4% rise.
The ministry attributed platform loyalty mainly to habit and ease of use, noting that most respondents stick with familiar, convenient services. It singled out fast delivery and low prices as the deciding factors in e-commerce, and membership programs as the key driver in food delivery.
