Awesome Build for Korea
An open-source resource list for building products for the Korean market: Korean payment gateways and Stripe alternatives, identity verification (본인인증), Kakao and Naver login, Naver Maps, address lookup, and MCP servers. Maintained by Seoulstart on GitHub.
What is Awesome Build for Korea?
Awesome Build for Korea is Seoulstart's open-source list of the APIs, SDKs, MCP servers, and platforms developers use to build products for the Korean market: Korean payment gateways and Stripe alternatives (PortOne, Toss Payments, NICEPAY), identity verification (본인인증), Kakao and Naver login, Naver and Kakao Maps, address and postcode lookup, messaging, public data, and the compliance rules that trip teams up. It is written for builders shipping into Korea without a local entity, and for AI agents doing the same.
Stripe coverage in Korea is partial, so most teams reach for a Korean payment gateway plus the KakaoPay, Naver Pay, and Toss wallets, and many services require real-name identity verification (본인인증). Each entry is annotated for a foreign or AI-assisted builder: what it does, when you need it, whether you can sign up from abroad, and the Korea-specific catch to watch for. The repo is open for contributions on GitHub.
What the list covers
AI builders start here
Identity and authentication
Payments
Maps and location
Address and postcode
Messaging and channels
AI and LLMs for Korean
MCP servers
Public and government data
Commerce and logistics
Startup support and funding
Compliance gotchas
Language editions on GitHub
Frequently asked questions
Who is Awesome Build for Korea for?
Developers and teams building a product for the Korean market: payments, real-name identity verification (본인인증), Kakao and Naver login, maps, address lookup, and compliance. It is written for builders shipping into Korea without a local entity, and for AI agents doing the same.
Can I sign up for these services from outside Korea?
Some work cross-border. Others, such as certain payment gateways and real-name identity verification (본인인증), need a Korean business entity or a local representative. Each entry notes whether you can sign up from abroad and the Korea-specific catch to watch for.
Is Awesome Build for Korea free to use?
Yes. It is open source under the CC BY 4.0 license, so you can fork, translate, or reuse it as long as you credit the source. Suggestions and additions are welcome through pull requests on GitHub.
Canonical links
Awesome Living in Korea
https://seoulstart.com/awesome-living-in-korea