Mobile app lists all Korean-run businesses

A mobile app listing contact details of all Korean-run businesses in the world is the talk of Silicon Valley.

Developed by Korean-American James Kim, the app lists the location and contact numbers of Korean-run restaurants, lodgings, clinics, shops, tourist sites, religious facilities, embassies, Korean community groups and many other businesses. 

Currently searchable on the app are about 66,000 Korean-run businesses, including 6,900 restaurants. The U.S. takes the lion’s share with 58,000 businesses, followed by 38,000 in Asia, 1,560 in Canada, 1,168 in South America, 87 in Oceania, 64 in the Middle East and 60 in Africa.

One of its eye-catching features is that MoKorea is able to show a roster of Korean businesses in order of proximity to a user’s current location. It has a map service useful to find addresses.

MoKorea is also accessible on its website (www.mokorea.com).

Users may upload their reviews of businesses.

“I was able to develop the app thanks to our search robot which managed to find out Korean-run businesses in London, Britain as well as those in the U.S.,” Kim said in an interview with Yonhap News. “So, I decided to expand the list worldwide, though it may take more than a year to complete the app.”

Currently, MoKorea generates advertising revenue in the U.S. only, but Kim said that he was happy with the app helping Korean travelers find Korean-run businesses with ease.

Kim also runs sfKorean.com (www.sfkorean.com), an internet community site consisting of flea markets and community bulletin boards in San Francisco since 2003. The number of its daily page views exceeds 1.2 million.

By Chun Sung-woo (swchun@heraldcorp.com)