Pokemon Go launched in Korea, in hopes to give economy a boost

Mobile augmented reality game Pokemon Go debuted in Korea on Tuesday, raising expectations of an economic boost.

Niantic held a press conference at 11 a.m. on Tuesday at Westin Chosun Hotel in central Seoul and officially announced domestic launch of Pokemon Go. Download has been available from 7 a.m. Tuesday at Apple's App Store and Google's Play Store.

With Pokemon Go launching its service in Korea, competition is likely to heat up among domestic companies to forge partnerships with Niantic. In order to attract users, Pokemon Go has PokeStops where Pokemon eggs can be gained as well as Gym where Pocket Monsters engage in battles. If companies gain partnership with Pokemon Go and be designated as PokeStops or Gym, they can gain publicity as well as a rise in sales.

"If companies are registered as PokeStops or Gym, they will attract an increasing number of traffic, which will help them gain publicity and sales increases," a medical device supplier said. "Niantic has so far partnered with large restaurant businesses such as McDonald's and Starbucks, which means that smaller companies may not be qualified. Yet many companies still want to take this opportunity."

Niantic's partner McDonald's Japan has designed its 400 stores as Gyms in July last year, raising sales up 26.6 percent from the same period in 2015. According to Starbucks, which struck partnership with Niantic on Dec. 8 last year, it will use some stores in the U.S. as PokeStops and Gym.

Niantic is working on alliance with Korean companies. Hwang Jeong-mok, director of art design at Niantic, said that the company is examining discussing with various potential Korean partners, but did not elaborate which companies it is contacting with.

Jae-Hee Kim jetti@donga.com