South Korea has the second-highest number of paid ChatGPT subscribers in the world, according to OpenAI.
The announcement was made by Jason Kwon, OpenAI’s chief strategy officer, during a press event in Seoul marking the opening of the company’s new office. The Seoul office is OpenAI’s third major base in Asia after Tokyo and Singapore.
Ranking Without Context
Kwon said Korea ranks in the global top five for ChatGPT business users and in the top ten for overall usage and developer activity on OpenAI’s API.
Sandy Kunvatanagarn, OpenAI’s head of policy for Asia-Pacific, said in a LinkedIn post that weekly active users in Korea had grown 4.5 times over the past year.
However, experts say the ranking requires context.
“It’s a real number, but it needs context,” said Kang Jung-soo, director of BludotAI Research Center. He noted that being second in paid subscriptions does not necessarily mean Korea has a dominant or mature AI market.
OpenAI has not released country-by-country subscriber figures. As of April 2025, ChatGPT had around 20 million paying subscribers globally.
There is no breakdown of how many of those are in the US or Korea, or whether the ranking reflects long-term subscribers or short-term spikes.
Broader Usage Tells A Different Story
While paid subscription data remains unclear, usage figures suggest strong adoption.
According to WiseApp, 17.4 million people in South Korea used the ChatGPT mobile app in April. That represents more than one-third of the country’s population.
Sam Altman said in April that total weekly active users worldwide, including free and paid, had doubled in recent weeks and may have surpassed 800 million.
Kang said ChatGPT’s growth in Korea is driven more by accessibility than by premium subscriptions.
“Where ChatGPT is exploding in Korea is not in premium usage,” he said. “It’s in sheer accessibility.”
Infrastructure And Culture Play A Role
South Korea’s digital infrastructure supports rapid adoption.
Smartphone penetration exceeds 95 percent, according to Gallup Korea polls in 2023. Nearly all households have broadband internet access.
Experts say these conditions make it easier for new technologies to spread quickly.
Professor Choi Byung-ho of Korea University’s AI Research Institute said social and cultural factors also contribute.
He pointed to the 2016 match between Google DeepMind’s AlphaGo and Korean Go champion Lee Sedol as a turning point in public awareness of AI.
“That wasn’t just a sports loss. It was a wake-up call,” Choi said.
Adoption Versus Influence
Although South Korea ranks high in paid subscriptions and usage growth, experts caution against equating this with global AI leadership.
Without detailed subscriber data or long-term retention figures, it is difficult to measure the depth of engagement.
For now, Korea’s position reflects strong digital infrastructure, fast-moving consumer trends, and early access to AI tools.
Whether that translates into lasting influence in the global AI ecosystem remains an open question.
Sources: The Korea Herald, OpenAI, WiseApp, Gallup Korea, LinkedIn statements by OpenAI executives.
