The Korean Messenger Successfully Localized to Russian, It Has Millions of Users 0 12

Against the backdrop of Telegram's blocking in Russia, interest in the South Korean messenger KakaoTalk is growing. The service has risen to second place in the ranking of the most downloaded apps in the 'Social Networks' category in the Russian segment of the App Store, second only to the messenger Max. In RuStore, the app has been downloaded about 10,000 times. According to Google Trends data, there has been a noticeable increase in interest in KakaoTalk in Russia over the past few months. Additionally, the app has entered the top 500 free apps in Russia across all categories for the first time.

The KakaoTalk interface has been translated into Russian, so it can be used without knowledge of Korean. However, some elements remain in English, and certain fragments of the interface may not be fully localized.

KakaoTalk was launched in 2010. In South Korea, it is used by the overwhelming majority of smartphone owners—over 90%. According to the developers, the total number of downloads worldwide exceeds 150 million. The messenger offers a standard set of features: text messaging, sending images and stickers, group chats, channels, as well as voice and video calls. The app is available in Russia through Google Play, the App Store, and RuStore.

When a strong earthquake struck Japan on March 11, 2011, KakaoTalk's messaging traffic in Japan surged as millions of people sought to confirm the safety of friends and family. KakaoTalk played an important role as a communication method based on data transmission networks; it successfully replaced downed wired and wireless networks and helped connect those affected by disasters.