Anthropic Lands in Seoul

Anthropic, the AI safety and research company, has officially opened its Seoul office, marking a significant expansion into the South Korean market. This move is accompanied by a series of new strategic partnerships across the nation's burgeoning AI ecosystem, involving enterprises, startups, and academic researchers.

The company views Korea as a hub for innovation and safety in AI development. "What I see in Korea are teams who understand that innovation and safety are two sides of the same coin," said KiYoung Choi, Representative Director of Korea at Anthropic. The new office aims to solidify Anthropic's long-term presence and support Korean leadership in AI advancements.

Expanding Enterprise and Startup Collaborations

Korean organizations have already been leveraging Anthropic's Claude for various applications. NAVER, a prominent Asian cloud and AI innovator, has integrated Claude Code across its engineering teams to boost coding productivity. Similarly, Nexon, a global online game developer, employs Claude Code for its live-service game development.

Major Korean conglomerates are also embracing Claude. LG CNS, the IT services arm of LG Group, is deploying Claude to thousands of employees for software development and client solutions, with plans for broader adoption across LG Group. Hanwha Solutions is making Claude available to its global employees via AWS Bedrock, adhering to strict data residency and security requirements.

Samsung SDS is rolling out Claude, including Claude Cowork and Claude Code, to Samsung Electronics employees for knowledge work, agentic workflows, and large-scale software development.

Startups are embedding Claude directly into their products. Channel Corp utilizes Claude to power its customer AI platform, Channel Talk, which serves over 230,000 companies across Korea, Japan, and the US.

Supporting Research and Beneficial Deployments

Beyond the private sector, Anthropic is deepening ties with academia. The company will provide Claude access to up to sixty researchers affiliated with the National AI Research Lab (NAIRL), a consortium of leading universities including KAIST, Korea University, Yonsei University, and POSTECH. This initiative will support research in AI safety, model evaluation, and alignment.

In the non-profit sector, Good Neighbors Korea, an NGO focused on child rights, is using Claude to analyze program outcomes, navigate legal guidelines, and reduce administrative burdens. "As we deploy Claude across our organization, we expect the efficiency gains to free our staff from administrative workload so they can focus more on what matters most: serving vulnerable children and communities," stated Jeongsun Park, Chief Administrative Officer at Good Neighbors Korea.

Cultivating the Developer Community

Korea ranks among the top countries for Claude.ai usage, particularly in technical and creative fields. Anthropic is actively supporting its robust developer community through initiatives like Claude for Startups and regular Claude Meetups.

The company recently co-hosted Claude Build Day with BASS Ventures, bringing together over 100 Korean founders and developers with Anthropic's leadership. A forthcoming Push to Prod hackathon, co-hosted with Replit, Korea Investment Partners, and Korea Investment Accelerator, will further empower startup teams using Claude Code.

The new Anthropic Seoul office is now open and hiring, led by KiYoung Choi, who brings extensive experience in the Korean technology sector.