South Korea: how a voluntary certificate made buildings ready for fast internet

South Korea is often cited as the country that had fast internet in almost every home at an early stage. That was not only down to the networks in the street. It was also down to the buildings themselves. More than half of Koreans live in large apartment complexes. If such a complex is well cabled, a provider can connect hundreds of households in one go.

To encourage developers, the government chose a certificate rather than a law. That makes South Korea interesting for the Benelux. Here too, the question is how to make the digital quality of a building visible without laying everything down in rules. In this article we take a closer look at the history, the workings and the limits of the system.

How does the Korean certificate work?

In Korean, the certificate is called the certificate for "buildings with high-speed information and communication facilities". In English it is also known as the Cyber Building Certificate. It works as follows:

• Voluntary. A developer or owner applies for the certificate themselves. There is no obligation.
• Review of the design. According to CNN, in 2000 developers already submitted their plans to the ministry at the design stage. The ministry looked at, among other things, the type of cable and the speed of the connection to the outside world.
• Fixed criteria. According to Gyeonggi Province, the review looked at the cabling method, the type of cable, spare capacity, the room for equipment and the surroundings. This applied to flats and offices larger than 3,300 m² or with more than six storeys.
• Levels. At first there were three levels: 1, 2 and 3, which CNN compared to the stars of the Michelin Guide. Now there are the levels Special, 1 and 2. In addition, there is a separate certificate for the smart home network, with the levels AAA (IoT), AA and A.
• Division of tasks. The Ministry of Science and ICT owns the system. The Central Radio Management Service issues the certificate. Since 2009, KAIT, the Korea Association for ICT Promotion, has carried out the assessment.

A short timeline:

• 1995: according to the ministry and KAIT, the year the system started.
• 1999: according to the Korean trade press, the year in which the first certificates with level 1, 2 or 3 were issued.
• 2003: according to Gyeonggi Province, 2,275 apartment complexes hold a certificate.
• 2005: around one million homes hold a certificate. Plans emerge for a top level and for existing buildings and offices.
• 2009: KAIT becomes the assessing organisation.
• 2020: KAIT and property platform Real Estate 114 agree that home seekers can see the level of each building in the property listings.

About the starting year: the sources contradict each other. The ministry and KAIT cite 1995. Korean trade journals cite 1999. Possibly the policy began in 1995 and the first certificates came in 1999. We could not establish this with certainty. That is why we mention both years.

What has it achieved?

In 2006 the Korean business magazine Hankyung Business wrote that, after the financial crisis of the late 1990s, developers were left with many unsold flats. They tried to obtain the certificate as quickly as possible to make their projects more attractive.

It worked. According to the American think tank Brookings, most residents wanted to live in a well-cabled flat. Developers used the certificate to stand out. In 2000 a ministry official told CNN that around 80 per cent of new flats were cabled for fast internet, partly thanks to the certificate.

The figures show how big it became:

• By mid-2003, 2,275 apartment complexes held a certificate. Of these, 724 were in Gyeonggi Province, about a third.
• In 2005, according to the Korean trade journal ETNews, around one million homes held a certificate. The journal called it a de facto standard.
• In 2020 Financial News reported that over the previous six years an average of 78.5 per cent of newly completed flats received a certificate.

Nobody has to. Yet almost eight in ten new flats receive the certificate.

Since 2020, home seekers can also see the level on the Real Estate 114 platform. This makes the certificate visible at the moment people choose a home.

What are its limits?

The certificate is a success, but it has clear limits.

• Mainly new homes. The system mainly revolves around new flats. In 2005 there were plans to extend it to existing buildings, offices and mixed-use buildings. We could not confirm how far that has got.
• What is installed, not how it works. The review looks at cables, ducts and rooms, often at the design stage. Whether the network still works well after years of use, or whether the Wi-Fi is good in every room, falls outside its scope.
• Dependent on the market. The certificate worked in a country with many large complexes and high demand for fast internet. Elsewhere, the same incentive may work less strongly.
• Levels change. The levels have been adjusted over time. That is necessary, but it makes old and new certificates harder to compare.

Alongside the government certificate, there has recently also been an international label. In May 2026 WiredScore launched in South Korea, with a number of property investors as its first partners. According to WiredScore, seven buildings have signed up for certification, including Factorial Seongsu in Seoul.

What can the Benelux learn from it?

South Korea shows that a voluntary certificate can change the market. There are, however, a few conditions:

1. The buyer must be able to see it. The certificate worked because residents asked for it.
2. Clear levels. A simple scale, such as stars or letters, is easy to explain and compare.
3. A fixed, independent assessment. There is a fixed organisation that carries out the assessment, with fixed criteria.
4. Keeping pace with technology. The levels and criteria were adjusted as technology changed, and the smart home network got its own certificate.

London also has a voluntary label for the digital quality of buildings, mainly for offices. One difference is that this label does not come from the government, but from a company. Read more in our article on the connectivity rating for offices in London.

What does this mean for the IT-Label?

The IT-Label works in the same way as the Korean certificate: it is voluntary, it has clear levels and the assessment follows one fixed method. There are also differences. The IT-Label is for both new and existing real estate. And it looks not only at what has been installed, but also at how it works in practice. A certificate is valid for two years.

The most important lesson from Korea is that a label only works once the market is familiar with it. That is why the IT-Label must be visible to tenants, buyers, estate agents and advisers. Also read why the IT-Label should become the Benelux standard and the overview of what the IT-Label can learn from other countries.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Korean certificate for fast internet in buildings?

It is a voluntary certificate from the South Korean government for buildings that are ready for fast internet. It looks at the cabling, the ducts and the rooms for equipment. There are three levels: Special, 1 and 2.

Since when has the certificate existed in South Korea?

That depends on the source. The ministry and KAIT cite 1995. Korean trade journals cite 1999, the year of the first certificates.

Is the certificate mandatory?

No. Developers and owners apply for it themselves. Even so, according to Korean figures, an average of 78.5 per cent of new flats received a certificate in recent years.

Does the certificate also check whether the internet works well?

No, not after completion. The certificate tests what has been installed, often at the design stage. The IT-Label also measures how the network works in practice.

Is there anything comparable in the Netherlands or Belgium?

There is no government certificate like the one in Korea. The European Gigabit Infrastructure Act does, however, require fibre-ready infrastructure in new buildings and buildings undergoing major renovation.

Would you like to know how your building performs digitally? A pre-inspection gives you an initial picture before you opt for certification.

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Sources: Brookings, Embracing broadband policy innovation from abroad; CNN, July 2000; Gyeonggi Province, August 2003; ETNews, April 2005; Hankyung Business, August 2006; Financial News, June 2020; WiredScore, May 2026. Checked on 18 October 2026.