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KakaoTalk is the clearest answer for messaging, while YouTube reaches a similarly broad share of adults as a video service. Beyond those standouts, popular apps in South Korea vary by age and by what “popular” means: reported use, monthly active users or time spent. The figures below are dated snapshots, not a live 2026 ranking.
What is the most popular app in Korea?
There is no single, official all-app ranking in the available evidence. In a Korea Press Foundation survey of 3,000 South Korean adults conducted in October and November 2024, 98.9% said they used KakaoTalk and 84.9% said they used YouTube. Those are survey-reported use rates, not monthly active-user counts.
Other trackers give a different view because they count activity differently. IGAWorks figures for December 2024 put YouTube at 46.82 million monthly active users (MAUs), ahead of KakaoTalk at 45.5 million. Wiseapp Retail’s August 2025 estimates for social services, by contrast, put KakaoTalk at 48.19 million MAUs. The different dates, scopes and methods mean these numbers should not be combined into one definitive leaderboard.
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Which apps are widely used, and what are they for?
South Korea’s app habits extend beyond social networking. The available figures include messaging, video, search and shopping as well as social and community services.
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| App or service | Common role | What the cited figures show |
|---|---|---|
| KakaoTalk | Instant messaging and communication | Used by 98.9% of adults in the Korea Press Foundation’s October–November 2024 survey. Wiseapp Retail estimated 48.19 million social-service MAUs in August 2025. |
| YouTube | Video, entertainment and creator content | Used by 84.9% of adults in the 2024 survey. IGAWorks reported 46.82 million MAUs for December 2024. |
| Social networking and sharing | Used by 38.6% of adults in the 2024 survey. Wiseapp Retail estimated 27.41 million social-service MAUs in August 2025. | |
| Naver | Search and other online services | IGAWorks reported 43.77 million MAUs for December 2024. |
| Coupang | Online shopping | IGAWorks reported 32 million MAUs for December 2024. |
| Naver Band | Social groups and communities | Used by 28.6% of adults in the 2024 survey. Wiseapp Retail estimated 17.08 million social-service MAUs in August 2025. |
| Naver Blog | Blogs and published posts | Used by 21.7% of adults in the 2024 survey. |
| Naver Cafe | Online communities | Wiseapp Retail estimated 9.3 million social-service MAUs in August 2025. |
| Search and online services | IGAWorks reported 37.59 million MAUs for December 2024. |
The Korea Press Foundation survey describes broad service use among adults; it does not measure every app installed or rank all mobile apps. IGAWorks’ wider app figures help show why a general picture includes search and shopping alongside messaging and video. The Ministry of Science and ICT’s summary of the 2024 Internet Usage Survey covered 25,509 households and 60,229 people aged three and older nationwide. It reports widespread instant messaging and video streaming, and identifies KakaoTalk as the most widely used instant-messaging service; it is not a brand-by-brand app leaderboard.
Does app popularity differ by age?
Yes. In the Korea Press Foundation survey, Instagram ranked third among respondents in their 20s, 30s and 40s, while Naver Band ranked third among respondents in their 50s and 60s. The ranking illustrates why an overall average can obscure differences in how age groups use social services.
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The survey report also described Instagram and Facebook as services used mainly to communicate with acquaintances, while YouTube and other video services were favored for content from influencers and celebrities. These are reported patterns from that survey, not rules about every user.
Do people in Korea use KakaoTalk or Instagram?
Both are widely used, but they serve different roles. KakaoTalk is the standout messaging service in the cited evidence: nearly all adults surveyed reported using it, and the Ministry of Science and ICT summary also identifies it as the most widely used instant-messaging service. Instagram appears as a major social service, with use varying by age and a large estimated audience in Wiseapp Retail’s August 2025 figures.
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Kakao Corp.’s May 2025 investor presentation calls KakaoTalk Korea’s No. 1 messenger. That is a company-authored claim; Kakao says its 2024 app comparison used Android and iOS app-user data from January through November, with a separate data note for X. It should be attributed to Kakao rather than treated as an independent ranking.
Does the biggest audience mean people spend the most time there?
No. MAUs estimate how many people used a service in a period; time spent measures engagement among users. Wiseapp Retail’s August 2025 social-service estimates ranked KakaoTalk highest by MAUs, but its average monthly usage-time estimates per user were led by TikTok Lite and Instagram.
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| Service | Average monthly usage time per user |
|---|---|
| TikTok Lite | 18 hours 57 minutes |
| 18 hours 1 minute | |
| TikTok | 17 hours 41 minutes |
| X | 14 hours 58 minutes |
| KakaoTalk | 11 hours 25 minutes |
These are Wiseapp Retail’s August 2025 average monthly usage-time estimates per user, not a measure of audience size. A service can have fewer users yet more time per user, so the ranking changes with the question being asked.
How current are these figures?
The comparisons here refer to the Korea Press Foundation’s October–November 2024 survey, IGAWorks data for December 2024 reported in 2025, Kakao’s May 2025 investor presentation and Wiseapp Retail’s August 2025 estimates. They establish a useful picture of recent usage, but not a current October 2026 ranking.
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The National Information Society Agency lists the final report and English tables for its 2025 Internet Usage Survey as posted in 2026, including an English-version listing dated June 25, 2026. The index does not expose app-specific tables, so it does not establish a directly comparable 2026 ranking across the categories discussed here.
Quick Recap
Sources and what each one measures
- Korea Press Foundation survey: adult respondents’ reported use of social services, collected in October–November 2024.
- IGAWorks app figures: reported December 2024 MAU estimates across apps including video, messaging, search and shopping.
- Wiseapp Retail social-service estimates: August 2025 MAUs and average monthly usage time per user.
- Kakao Corp. investor presentation: company-authored claim about KakaoTalk’s messenger position and the stated scope of its comparison.
- Ministry of Science and ICT survey summary: broad 2024 internet-use findings, rather than a full app ranking.
- National Information Society Agency survey index: listing for the 2025 Internet Usage Survey final report and English tables.
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