In Korea, Generative AI services are rapidly spreading into everyday life.
The Ministry of Science and ICT on the 31st released the results of the 2025 Internet usage survey. The survey covered 22,671 households nationwide and 50,750 household members ages 3 and older, and included the internet usage environment and behavior, as well as the status of major services such as AI, social media, and cloud. In particular, this year reflected the spread of Generative AI and newly examined purposes of use, satisfaction, services used, and whether users pay for subscriptions.
The survey found the internet connection rate for all households was 99.98%, up 0.01 percentage point from a year earlier. The internet usage rate among people ages 3 and older was 95.0%, up 0.5 percentage point. Among internet users, 95.2% used the internet at least once a day, and the average weekly usage time was 21.6 hours. By region, Gwangju had the highest internet usage rate at 97.8%, while South Jeolla had the lowest at 91.1%.
By usage behavior, instant messenger usage reached 98.0%. The most used messenger was KakaoTalk, followed by Instagram Direct Message and Facebook Messenger. Video service usage was also high at 96.3%, and the average weekly usage time was found to be 7.9 hours.
Experience with AI services also showed a clear upward trend. The share of respondents who said they had used AI services in areas such as residential convenience, transportation, and education steadily rose from 32.4% in 2021 to 67.0% last year. The most experienced area was residential convenience, such as household support robots and Internet of Things (IoT) appliances, followed by transportation, communication and socializing, and education and learning.
The expansion of Generative AI use was even more pronounced. Respondents who had experienced Generative AI services increased from 33.3% in 2024 to 44.5% in 2025, up 11.2 percentage points. The most used services were ChatGPT, followed by Gemini, Copilot, and CLOVA X. The paid subscription rate was 7.9%, with ChatGPT accounting for the highest share among them.
By occupation, office workers had the highest experience rate with Generative AI (71.9%), while paid subscription rates were highest among professionals and managers (20.6%). By region, experience rates were highest in Sejong (53.2%), Daejeon (53.1%), and Seoul (52.8%), while paid subscription rates were highest in Seoul (11.4%), Gyeonggi (9.9%), and Gangwon (9.1%).
By contrast, respondents who do not use Generative AI most often cited a lack of interest or need. However, among older adults, the proportion of respondents citing not knowing how to use it was relatively high, revealing a generational gap in digital utilization.
Perceptions of AI were generally positive. The share who said government and corporations' AI services have a positive impact on society overall was 66.8%. Also, 57.0% viewed AI services as fair and non-discriminatory, and 54.7% said they trust the information and outputs provided by AI.
Meanwhile, ownership rates of portable information and communications devices such as smartphones, tablet PCs, laptops, game consoles, wearables, and smartwatches generally increased, while ownership of conventional mobile phones declined.
The Ministry of Science and ICT assessed that, based on the latest survey results, AI is sparking changes across people's lives and ways of working beyond being a mere technology. The government plans to continue policies to strengthen people's AI utilization capabilities and to create a safer and more trustworthy usage environment.