South Korea now ranks second in the world for paid ChatGPT subscribers, a statistic confirmed by OpenAI during a press event in Seoul this week. While this figure is impressive on the surface, experts urge a deeper look into what this really signifies about South Korea’s AI landscape.
OpenAI’s Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon announced the milestone while unveiling the company’s new Seoul office—its third major outpost in Asia. According to OpenAI, Korea is not only a top-five country for business adoption of ChatGPT but also among the top ten globally in overall usage and developer activity on OpenAI’s API. Growth has been explosive, with weekly active users increasing 4.5 times in the past year alone.
However, AI experts say that being second in paid users does not necessarily indicate a mature or dominant AI ecosystem. “It’s a valid statistic, but it doesn’t tell the whole story,” said Kang Jung-soo of BludotAI. “The gap between countries may be small, and it could reflect trial spikes rather than sustained, advanced usage.”
Much of Korea’s AI adoption story lies in infrastructure and culture. With over 95% smartphone penetration and near-universal broadband, Korea offers a fertile environment for rapid tech diffusion. Local analytics data shows that more than 17 million Koreans used the ChatGPT mobile app in April—about a third of the population.
Experts attribute this explosive engagement not only to infrastructure but also to cultural readiness. “Koreans move fast. They absorb and integrate technology into everyday life quicker than most,” said Professor Choi Byung-ho of Korea University. He also referenced the national memory of AlphaGo’s 2016 victory over Go master Lee Sedol as a turning point in public awareness about AI.
In short, Korea’s No. 2 spot in paid usage may be symbolic of something much greater: a nation uniquely positioned to embrace, test, and integrate AI on a massive scale—setting the stage for what’s next.
