World-shaking 'Pokémon Go' finally available for play in S. Korea

By Park Sae-jin Posted : January 24, 2017, 10:05 Updated : January 24, 2017, 10:20

[ Aju News DB]


Pokémon Go, an augmented reality mobile game that brought a worldwide syndrome, is finally available for play in South Korea. Joy-filled testimonies from fans are filling up freeboards in online communities from 7:00 am (2200 GMT) Tuesday.

It was the moment the fans have waited for almost six months, tough the game's developer, Niantic Inc, has yet to make any announcement.

"Oh my god! I just caught a Pikachu (a type of Pokémon) in my car!" said "Twoguys", a user of South Korean Online IT community Clien. "I need to leave home to get to work, but Pokémons keep popping up in my room. I think I will call for a sick leave," said "Dehethe".

Nintendo's mobile AR game was released in July last year. Although it was available for free-to-play in many countries, South Korea was excluded because the game requires Google's official GPS-based map data to run. South Korea has refused to provide map data to Google for security reasons as the two Koreas are still technically at war.

The game has created a rare scene in August when thousands of fans flocked to the eastern port city of Sokcho some 155 kilometers (96.3 miles) east of Seoul to play the game after finding out a loophole in Niantic's map data system which included the city as the only playable area.

Niantic was to hold a news conference in Seoul Tuesday. Many media outlets predicted the creator of Pokémon Go may mention its official launch in South Korea, but none expected the game to be available on Apple's App Store and Google Play so early.

 
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