KakaoTalk Share Button

KakaoTalk (Korean: 카카오톡), commonly referred to as KaTalk (Korean: 카톡) in South Korea, is an instant messenger and online services platform operated by Kakao Corporation. It was launched in 2010 and the app is available on mobile and desktop platforms. Originally designed for messaging, it has evolved into becoming a super-app providing mobile payments and banking, taxi hailing, games and others.

As of August 2022, KakaoTalk had 53 million monthly active users, 47 million inside Korea. It is available in 15 languages. The app is used by 93% of smartphone owners in South Korea, where it is the most widely used instant messenging app. After the COVID-19 pandemic, it has further grown in prominence after becoming widely used as a tool to combat COVID-19, in cooperation with the South Korean government.