Starlink, a low-Earth orbit satellite communications service, has prices in South Korea that are similar to the OECD average.

The Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI) on Monday published a report analysing Starlink's pricing and its impact on South Korea's telecommunications market. The report said Starlink costs 87,000 won for residential use in South Korea. That is $61.16 at the 2025 annual average exchange rate, 1.01 times the OECD average of $60.59. Starlink had been commercialised in 37 of 38 OECD countries as of January 2026, excluding Turkey.

The analysis found that prices were affected by factors including population density, urbanisation, income levels and the ICT competitive environment. Prices were higher in countries with lower population density and a lower share of urban population. Countries with weaker ICT competition also tended to have higher prices. The report found that countries with lower GDP per capita faced a greater burden from Starlink prices. It attributed this to a wider burden on a purchasing power basis even though nominal price differences were not large.

The impact on South Korea's telecommunications market is expected to be limited in the short term. That is due to the high penetration and price competitiveness of existing wired and wireless networks. Researchers said Starlink is likely to play a complementary role focused on specialised demand such as islands and mountainous areas, disaster situations and maritime use.

In the medium to long term, however, the report found it will promote the development of low-Earth orbit satellite communications and 6G technology. With satellite communications emerging as next-generation infrastructure, it is expected to affect related industries and technology development.

Researcher Jin-woo Park (박진우) said, "Rather than establishing a clear causal relationship, this report should be seen as organising correlations with variables that could be related to pricing."