During his speech, Obama noted that “in our digital age, we can connect and innovate across borders like never before – with smartphones, Twitter, Me2day (which was a microblogging SNS) and Kakao Talk.” (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – Kakao Talk is South Korea’s most popular messaging application, boasting 50 million active monthly users around the world.
Among the dozen or so notification sounds offered by the app is “Obama Talk”, which was taken from an actual speech made by former U.S. president Barack Obama, where he mentioned the application – a ringtone Kakao has decided to keep despite Obama’s farewell two weeks ago.
The speech dates back to the former president’s visit to South Korea in March 2012, when he dropped by Hankuk University of Foreign Studies to deliver a lecture titled “The Role of South Korea in the International Community.
During his speech, Obama noted that “in our digital age, we can connect and innovate across borders like never before – with smartphones, Twitter, Me2day (which was a microblogging SNS) and Kakao Talk,” with students responding with wild applause given that the app was just gaining popularity among young Koreans at the time.
Kakao introduced an official notification sound of Obama saying “Kakao Talk” a week after the lecture, and it has been offered ever since.
“‘Obama Talk’ is a notification sound that we decided to introduce for a little bit of unique fun to Kakao Talk users,” said a Kakao official. “We won’t be talking away the ringtone, nor do we plan on offering ‘Trump Talk’.”
You can watch the full speech here. Obama mentions the app at the 4:20 mark.
By Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
