The domestic digital platform market exceeded 161 trillion won as of 2024. It found that domestic users most often use ChatGPT for Generative AI, Naver for search, and KakaoTalk for messaging.
The Ministry of Science and ICT on the 3rd released the results of the "2025 value-added telecommunications business fact-finding survey," which included this information. The survey has been conducted annually since 2021 under the Telecommunications Business Act, and this year, for the first time, it also included questions on digital platform user behavior and platform service bundling.
According to the survey, total revenue from value-added telecommunications services in 2024 was 502.9 trillion won, up 15.3% from the previous year. Of that, revenue from digital platform services that connect suppliers and users—such as e-commerce, app markets, and social media—came to 161.5 trillion won. That was up 5.4% from a year earlier and accounted for 32.1% of total value-added telecommunications revenue.
The fact-finding survey targeted 6,049 value-added telecommunications business operators, excluding those with capital under 100 million won and companies that were suspended or closed, and a total of 1,451 corporations responded.
By business type, service providers such as food delivery and travel/lodging reservations were most common at 30.9%. Goods transaction types centered on e-commerce followed at 27.1%, and content providers such as search and games at 15.5%. Among responding corporations, 62.2% were found to be using at least one digital advanced technology such as AI, big data, or cybersecurity.
A user behavior survey conducted in parallel clearly revealed domestic users' platform usage patterns.
A survey of 2,500 adults ages 19 to 69 living in 17 metropolitan cities and provinces nationwide on usage over the past three months found that search services had the highest usage rate at 98.7%. That was followed by messenger at 98.5%, places/maps at 96.8%, e-commerce at 95.6%, and video sharing at 92.7%.
The usage rate of Generative AI services was relatively low at 78.1%, but it reached 92.6% among those in their 20s.
For daily use frequency, messenger was highest at 91.3%, followed by search at 85.8% and video sharing at 69.5%.
By platform type preference, Naver ranked No. 1 in search at 67.5%, KakaoTalk in messenger at 92.5%, and Instagram was most used in social media (SNS) at 35.9%.
In e-commerce, Coupang led with 53.6%; in app markets, Google Play with 64.6%; in video sharing, YouTube with 78.0%; and in food delivery, Baemin with 50.6%.
In Generative AI, ChatGPT ranked No. 1 at 68.1%, while for places/maps, Naver Map had 50.7%, and in secondhand transactions, Danggeun Market had the highest usage rate at 88.3%.
The share of users engaging in multi-homing—using two or more platforms in parallel—was highest in e-commerce at 83.9%, followed by SNS at 79.9% and search portals at 76.9%. By contrast, secondhand transactions and app markets were relatively low at 25.9% and 24.9%, respectively.
The Ministry of Science and ICT said it plans to continue expanding data analysis that reflects market trends and use it to develop policies to vitalize the value-added telecommunications market.