On a comparative level, NetRatings findings from 21 countries, covering some 88% of global Internet surfers, show that South Korea is one of the world’s largest Internet markets. Sixty-three percent of Korean households have PCs at home, 46% have access to the Internet, and 23% have acquired Internet access in the last 12 months. In comparison, in the UK only 43% of households have PCs at home, 30% have access to the Internet and 16% acquired this access in the past 12 months.

"In terms of market size, that puts South Korea next only to Japan in Asia Pacific and among the top 5 globally. Korea is clearly one of the leaders in Internet services – especially broadband - and will be a major market for advertisers and Internet companies alike," said Forrest Didier, executive director, ACNielsen eRatings.com, North Asia.

Korean Internet users lead the world in the number of times they visit the World Wide Web, the number of unique sites visited, the number of page views downloaded, and time spent on the Internet per session and per month. In January, 11 million Koreans logged onto the Internet, representing an almost 50% active rate among the 22.3 million people who have access to the Internet from home.

The data continues to show that, over the same month, the average Korean Internet user spent 16 hours online in 21 visits to the Web, went to 27 unique sites and downloaded 2,008 pages. Every time he or she was online, an average of 46 minutes 35 seconds was spent viewing 96 pages. This represents the greatest time online globally, significantly ahead of the most advanced Internet economy of the US. Here, research estimates that people spent an average of just under 10 hours online in January in 18 visits. "The pattern of Korean Internet usage compares very favourably with advanced Internet countries like Japan and the US. Now that we have added Korea to another 20 countries we measure around the world, local and international investors and marketers will surely gain even more knowledge and insights from Nielsen//NetRatings than before, " said Mr Kim Taehyun, sales and marketing director, ACNielsen eRatings.com, Korea. "The Internet is a global medium that transcends country boundaries, therefore we need to understand the Korean market in the global context. It is particularly important because Korea is a major trading country and a key player in globalisation."