Hi everyone,
Given that there are many people who come to my blog via my post “8 key facts about South Korea digital marketing landscape” back in 2016, I feel compelled to update it so that you will have the latest information.
This post is part of the series about South Korea that I have been writing in 2019. You can find other posts here:
8 key facts about South Korea Mobile Game industry
South Korea subscription video on demand (SVOD) : key facts and trends
10 key facts about South Korea e-commerce 2019
1. South Korea enjoys one of the highest mobile internet penetration in the world at 82% (vs China 56%, Japan 66%, the US 80%)
![south korea mobile internet user penetration vs china japan the us the uk jan 2019 v2](https://www.chandlernguyen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/south-korea-mobile-internet-user-penetration-date-jan-2019-v2-1024x645.png)
2. South Korean mostly spend time on digital devices and TV throughout the day at the expense of Print and Radio. Time on TV is surprisingly resilient over the years
![time spent with media in south korea 2018 - 2020](https://www.chandlernguyen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/time-spent-with-media-2018-2020-1024x868.jpg)
3. Total ad spend per person in South Korea lags behind other major economies and the growth rate is expected to be slower between 2019 – 2022
![total ad spend per person in south korea china japan us uk 2019 v2](https://www.chandlernguyen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/total-ad-spend-per-person-in-south-korea-china-japan-us-uk-2019-v2-1024x591.png)
4. Digital ad spend took the largest share of the total ad spend in 2018, followed by TV and out of home. The trend is favourable to digital spend with growth rate of more than 11%
![Total Media Ad Spending Share, by Media south korea 2018](https://www.chandlernguyen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Total-Media-Ad-Spending-Share-by-Media-south-korea-2018.png)
![Total Media Ad Spending Growth, by Media 2018](https://www.chandlernguyen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Total-Media-Ad-Spending-Growth-by-Media-2018.png)
5. Given the huge time spent on Mobile, it is not surprising that Mobile ad has the lion share (73% in 2018) of the total digital ad spend
![Mobile Ad Spending in south korea 2018 - 2022](https://www.chandlernguyen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Mobile-Ad-Spending-in-south-korea-2019-2022.png)
6. Display ad continues to gain percentage share of digital ad spend against search and classified ads in South Korea
![digital ad spend by format in percentage south korea 2018 - 2022 v2](https://www.chandlernguyen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/digital-ad-spend-by-format-in-percentage-south-korea-2018-2022-v2-1024x604.png)
7. More than 2/3 of the South Korea population are mobile buyers
![](https://www.chandlernguyen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Mobile-Buyers-in-south-korea-2018-2022.png)
8. International digital platforms are not as dominant in South Korea as in other markets
Kakao Talk is the most popular messaging app in South Korea, reaching more than 2/3 of the internet population.
![KaKao Talk Users in south korea 2018 2022](https://www.chandlernguyen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/KaKao-Talk-Users-in-south-korea-.png)
![mobile messaging app used by mobile messaging users in south korea jan 2018](https://www.chandlernguyen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/mobile-messaging-app-used-by-mobile-messaging-users-in-south-korea.jpg)
Naver TV ranks second in terms of Digital Video Platform used by viewers in South Korea
![](https://www.chandlernguyen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/digital-video-platforms-used-by-viewers-in-south-korea-jan-2018-865x1024.jpg)
Popular B2C ecommerce platforms in South Korea are mostly local players
![most popular mcommerce platforms in south korea jan 2018](https://www.chandlernguyen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/most-popular-mcommerce-platforms-in-south-korea-jan-2018.jpg)
Leading Mobile Payment Apps in South Korea are all local players
![leading mobile payment platforms in south korea jul 2018](https://www.chandlernguyen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/leading-mobile-payment-platforms-in-south-korea-jul-2018-764x1024.jpg)
Without a doubt, Naver and Daum are the strongest portals in South Korea
![top 10 mobile sites in korea ranked by unique visitors jul 2018](https://www.chandlernguyen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/top-10-mobile-sites-in-korea-ranked-by-unique-visitors-jul-2018.jpg)
That’s from me.
Cheers,
Chandler