I would tend to think that once they had been enjoying super-fast broadband for some time, and developed enough local talent, they started to turn to more “emotional” design (vs. “intellectual”). It is quite obvious in the style of Cyworld compared to Facebook or Western-style blogs. Cyworld is very emotional communication while Western blogs tended to be expert blogs (at least in the first wave).

It is possible that the emotional aspect of online communication is just at the beginning in the West, while Korea has made some good progress already.

@Katherine It’s hard to research complexity of websites by ethnic background, but it’s an interesting question, certainly for websites like facebook!

@Yong Su Kim Thanks for that reflection , I agree with you whole heartedly, yahoo compares very well with daum for instance!

It struck me that ‘busy-ness’ could also be related to the advertising model that is applied! which might imply that website design and interaction differ from country to country and in industry! Although, the evolution of the web might create a lot of opportunities (like OpenID)

I want to compare websites with airports to make my point clear, the evolution of aviation lead to commercialization and eventually caused the need for airports, the airports became standardized over the years with standardized icons and procedures. This means that you will find your way at SF airport just as you will in New Delhi. This standardization will indeed create lot’s of opportunity for VC’s, it’s about time that South Korea raises the next Skype!

However, many people look at South Korean Internet companies and say that it will only work in South Korea because Koreans are “…” and US users are “…”.

Also, the “busy-ness” of websites arguments is an interesting one. Lately, there has been a move to simplicity with Web 2.0 companies, yet if you look at the mainstream websites like eBay and http://www.yahoo.com, they’ve evolved to become more and more like Korean web sites.

The reality is that a lot of the ideas that are in vogue right now (social networking, MMORPG, Virtual currencies, Q&A sites, casual gaming, etc.) have been thriving in Korea for quite some time now.

The challenge for the Korea is that the companies that have the resources to expand overseas simply don’t have the right corporate culture nor management/people to be successful in the US market. Conversely, the startups that do have the right startup culture in Korea simply don’t have the money nor the people/connections to know how to get started in a foreign market.

There’s a real opportunity for really great VC’s and angel investors to leverage these types of opportunities and build the next Skype…

So South Korean web sites are both “busier” and “cuter”, but South Koreans find Facebook “too complex”? Interesting — I wouldn’t mind if this observation were expanded into an entire post in itself.