Seoul, Jun 11 (IANS): The number of OpenAI's ChatGPT users in South Korea rose 30 per cent last month, surpassing 1 million for the first time on the increasing popularity of the artificial intelligence chatbot, industry data showed on Tuesday.

The mobile ChatGPT application had 1.27 million users in May, up from 980,000 in April, according to the market data analysis firm IGAWorks, reports Yonhap news agency.

It is the first time that the monthly ChatGPT users have exceeded the 1 million mark in the country.

The user base has been steadily increasing, growing from 697,000 in February and 880,000 in March.

The data also showed a rise in user engagement.

South Koreans spent a total of 739,000 hours using ChatGPT last month, up 55.8 percent from 474,000 hours in April.

New downloads of the ChatGPT app soared 47.9 per cent on-month to 404,000 in May.

The app, available on iOS and Android since last year, continues to attract a diverse user base.

Launched in November 2022 by OpenAI, ChatGPT has wowed the world with its content-creating generative AI technology.