App Store Localization for Korean: Storefronts, Bytes, Keywords

Apple's localizations table names Korean as the default language of one storefront: Republic of Korea. Each of them also lists English (U.K.). It appears as an additional language in 1 more: United States. The default language listed next to it is English (US).

Apple's keyword reference allows 100 bytes, not 100 characters. Counted as UTF-8, the example below contains 28 three-byte characters (separators excluded). At three bytes a character the field holds at most 33 characters of keywords, commas included. The words below are a hypothetical keyword list for a habit tracker called Streakly; they are illustrations, not validated search terms, and each has at least three characters.

Joined with commas and no spaces after them, the field is:

습관형성,목표관리,리마인더,루틴관리,매일기록,자기관리,동기부여

That is 34 characters and 90 bytes: 84 bytes of keywords plus 6 commas, leaving 10 of the 100 bytes free. The byte counts assume UTF-8; confirm the final count in App Store Connect before you save.

The Korea row is a single-default storefront with English (U.K.) as the additional language. The United States row adds Korean to nine extra languages. That makes the Korea storefront the main target for a Korean listing; see the South Korea keyword page.

The locale code Apple gives for Korean is ko. Its neighbors among three-byte languages are Japanese and Chinese (Simplified).

Hangul letters are grouped into syllable blocks and each block takes three bytes, so the example field of seven four-block keywords uses 28 blocks, 84 bytes plus six commas. The ceiling is 33 blocks if the field has no commas at all.

As in other three-byte languages, a two-block word like 습관 does not meet Apple's minimum, which is why the example uses 습관형성. Apple does not document how it splits Korean text into words or whether it handles spacing in compounds, so test a candidate by searching for it. For the cost of translating the idea rather than the words, see translate or transcreate keywords.

LocalASO checks keywords in 52 App Store storefronts, each in the storefront's local language, so you can compare your Korean candidates with the English ones in one place. Keywords, ranks and listings stay in a database on your Mac. LocalASO is a one-time $29 purchase and the app needs a license key to run; the setup is in the localization docs and the price is on the pricing page. To test the field you just built, use the keyword field checker, or browse every language page. Related languages: Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), English (U.S.).