Korea Uses Claude 3.5x Its Expected Share — Anthropic Comes to Seoul
Anthropic is moving into Korea directly. On May 27, ahead of opening its Seoul office, it appointed its first Korea Representative Director. It's not a model launch, but for Korean developers it's more directly relevant news.
01 · The News: Anthropic Named a Korea Country Head
On May 27, 2026, Anthropic announced it had appointed KiYoung Choi, former Korea head of Snowflake, as Representative Director of Anthropic Korea. The Korean entity was already registered back in July 2025, and within weeks senior leadership from headquarters will visit Seoul to officially open the office. It's the entity going fully operational 10 months after registration.
- Usage vs. population: 3.5× (Economic Index)
- User growth in one year: 12× (year over year)
- Claude MAU (April): 2.41M (ChatGPT 23.45M)
- Korea entity registered: Jul 2025 (10 months ago)
02 · Why Korea: Few Users, but the Fastest-Growing Market
Anthropic's rationale is usage. By the March Economic Index, Korea's Claude usage runs more than 3.5× what you'd expect from its population. And it's concentrated in high-difficulty technical R&D and creative work. "One of the most sophisticated AI markets in the world" is how the company puts it.
On raw user count, ChatGPT dominates. As of April, monthly active users stood at 23.45M for ChatGPT and 2.41M for Claude. But Claude grew roughly 12× (+1,148%) in a year, spreading especially on coding and writing demand from men in their 20s.
| ChatGPT | Claude | |
|---|---|---|
| April MAU | 23.45M | 2.41M |
| Position | #1 by user base in Korea | +1,148% YoY (~12× surge) |
| Note | Most monthly active users | 20s · coding focus |
03 · Who Leads: Korea's Lead Is a Cloud Sales Veteran
KiYoung Choi has led tech companies across Korea and Asia-Pacific for over 30 years. Most recently he was Korea head of Snowflake. The fact that he's an enterprise market builder, not a product engineer, tells you the direction.
KiYoung Choi — 30 Years of Tech Leadership
- Korea head, Snowflake — most recent role, data cloud
- COO, Microsoft Korea — enterprise operations lead
- Google Cloud Korea leadership — drove cloud adoption
- Adobe · Autodesk Korea leadership — global SaaS localization experience
04 · Position: What Changes for Developers
The Korea team's priorities are nailed down to three: enterprise and startup partnerships, government and research collaboration, and local developer community support. Law&Company already runs a Claude-based legal assistant, and SK Telecom has wired Claude into customer support. Once there's a local base, Korean-language billing, enterprise contracts, and local events all get closer.
Your code won't change overnight. But a local base means Korean-language support, tax invoices, enterprise contracts, and community events all move closer to reality.
- What to watch: Office opening timing, and whether Korean-language payment · tax invoices arrive
- Caution: ChatGPT has ~10× the users — Claude is still behind on scale
05 · Eddie's Take
"Once there's a local base, next come Korean-language invoices and local events. The key is that developer community support made the priority list."
— Eddie · 2026.05.27
It's not a new model launch, but for Korean developers it may be a more tangible change. Just watch the office opening timing and Korean-language payment support.
Sources · References
Original announcement
Press
- The Korea Herald — Anthropic names first Korea chief ahead of Seoul office launch
- Seoul Economic Daily — Anthropic Names Choi Ki-young as Korea Country Manager
User statistics
Disclaimer: An objective summary of an external announcement. No ads or affiliate links. Figures are as cited in press coverage (Anthropic Economic Index · April 2026 MAU).
Original with full infographics and visual structure: https://jessinvestment.com/anthropic-opens-a-korea-office-as-claude-usage-surges-12x/
