Anthropic opens Seoul office and forges partnerships across South Korea's AI ecosystem

Anthropic Establishes Seoul Presence as South Korea Emerges as Key Market

Anthropic opened its Anthropic Seoul office on Wednesday, signaling a major commitment to South Korea as one of Claude's most active markets globally1

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. The expansion comes as the company prepares for a public listing and seeks to deepen its footprint across Asia's rapidly evolving AI ecosystem. Kiyoung Choi, who joined Anthropic in May from Snowflake Inc, will lead the office as Representative Director of Korea1

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. Usage data shows South Korean users have concentrated their Claude AI activity in technical and creative work, making the market particularly strategic for Anthropic's growth trajectory1

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Enterprise AI Adoption Accelerates Across Major Korean Conglomerates

Major South Korean business groups are deploying Claude through key affiliates, with LG CNS providing Claude for employee software development and planning to expand coverage across all of LG Group2

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. Samsung SDS is introducing Claude Cowork and Claude Code for Samsung Electronics employees, while Hanwha Solutions has also integrated the AI assistant into enterprise operations1

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. NAVER, often called South Korea's Google, recently introduced Claude Code for its entire engineering unit, marking the largest case of enterprise use in Asia2

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. Game developer Nexon has deployed Claude across game development workflows and for designing code for its live service games1

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. These deployments demonstrate how enterprise AI adoption is transforming knowledge work and software development across South Korea's leading corporations.

Government Collaboration Prioritizes AI Safety and Public-Sector AI Adoption

Anthropic signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT to collaborate on public-sector AI adoption, model safety testing, and efforts to address AI-related cybersecurity threats1

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. "Korean companies and institutions recognize innovation and safety as goals that must go hand in hand, not a contradicting value," said Choi Ki-young during a press conference at the Conrad Seoul2

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. Anthropic International Managing Director Chris Ciauri emphasized that AI safety aligns with the Korean government's AI Framework Act, a law designed to address risks stemming from AI services2

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. The company will work with the National AI Research Lab to provide Claude access to about 60 researchers working on AI safety, model evaluation, alignment, and frontier research1

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. This research consortium includes Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, Korea University, Yonsei University, and Pohang University of Science and Technology2

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Startup Support and Developer Engagement Drive Korean AI Ecosystem Growth

Anthropic is holding its first Seoul Builder Summit with AI startup Coxwave, aimed at developers, startups, and businesses using Claude1

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. The Claude for Startups program, currently live in South Korea, provides early-stage companies with model credits, technical support, and access to Anthropic's AI tools1

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. The company hosted Claude Build Day on Tuesday, which brought together more than 100 officials and developers from domestic startups2

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. Building on multi-year cooperation with AI service firm WRTN Technologies and legal tech startup Law&Company, Claude has expanded its applications across multiple sectors in recent months2

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. Ciauri revealed that company revenue has grown from $9 billion at the end of 2025 to $47 billion as of a few weeks ago, with expectations for a similar trajectory of growth in South Korea2

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Export Controls Cast Shadow Over Expansion Despite Strong Momentum

The international expansion comes as Anthropic seeks to restore access to some of its most advanced AI models following new export controls1

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. Questions were raised during the press conference about U.S. export controls on Anthropic's advanced cybersecurity models, Mythos 5 and Fable 5, and the subsequent ban on Korean institutional access to the models, though company officials refused to comment on the issue2

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. The Washington Post reported that the export restrictions were linked to concerns over a Korean telecom operator's alleged ties to China2

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. Despite these challenges, Anthropic's commitment to establishing a long-term foundation for collaboration with leaders in the Korean AI ecosystem remains clear, as the company positions itself for continued growth in one of Asia's most sophisticated technology markets.