Number of 5G subscriptions South Korea 2019-2024, by month

As of March 2024, South Korea had approximately 33.4 million 5G subscribers. Most subscribers had a contract with SK Telecom.

5G

In April 2019, commercial 5G was introduced to South Korea and the number of 5G subscribers has been growing ever since. Since South Korea’s 5G is one of the first networks that went live, the service had some hiccups. For example, networks still use upswitching, meaning that the users are connected to 4G networks unless they use a 5G service, such as streaming. The process of switching networks leads to higher latency. Nevertheless, those issues should be resolved once the number of 5G base stations has been increased and the providers can offer standalone 5G data plans.

Mobile internet

The usage of smartphones is an integral part of the lives of many South Koreans. It is unsurprising, given South Korea is the home country of smartphone giant Samsung and the country’s reputation to being tech-savvy. In a survey in 2023, nearly everyone between the age of 10 and 59 years old stated that they used mobile internet. In another survey, teenagers and adults in their 20s and 30s reported that they spent more around three hours per day using mobile internet on weekdays, while usually people spent even more time on the internet on the weekends.