.kr

.kr is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for South Korea. Registrations are processed via registration agents.

.kr

Introduced	29 September 1986; 38 years ago (1986-09-29)
TLD type	Country code top-level domain
Status	Active
Registry	KRNIC (KISA)
Sponsor	KISA
Intended use	Entities connected with South Korea
Actual use	Popular in South Korea
Registered domains	1,080,682 (2024-05-31)[1]
Registration restrictions	Registrants must have a local presence within South Korea; varying restrictions exist for registration under different second-level names.
Structure	Registrations are only allowed at the third level beneath second-level domains (.co.kr, .or.kr, ...) for standard domain names while internationalized domain names must be registered at the second level.
Documents	Policies
IDN	yes
Registry website	krnic.or.kr

.한국

Introduced	2011
TLD type	Internationalized country code top-level domain
Status	Active
Intended use	Entities connected with South Korea in the Hangul script
Actual use	Fairly popular in South Korea
Registered domains	14,706 (2024-05-31)[1]
Registration restrictions	Registrants must have a local presence within South Korea[2]
Structure	Domain names contain Korean Hangul syllables, basic Latin alphabet, numbers or hyphens, and are registered at the second level.
DNS name	xn--3e0b707e
IDN	only

History

From September 2006, it became possible to register domain names directly under .kr (although this is currently only possible for internationalized domain names).

Trademark holders and public bodies benefited from an "early registration period", after which the owners of .kr third-level domains had priority to get the corresponding second-level domains.

Period	Time	Eligibility
Sunrise I	18 September – 20 November 2006	Governmental Bodies only
Sunrise II	21 November 2006 – 27 February 2007	A holder of 3rd level .kr domain The registered 3rd level domain and the 3rd level domain should be registered before 13 March 2006 The full name of registered trademark using same alphabetical order
Landrush	28 March – 1 April 2007	Anyone or any business entity who has an address in the territory
General Registration	From 19 April 2007	First-come first-served basis

In 2011 a new top-level domain was registered for South Korea, intended for domain names in the local language. The top-level domain is 대한민국 domain names and working sites became active during 2011.^[3]

Domains and subdomains

Domains and Subdomains	Areas	Registration qualifications
.kr	Commercial	Organizations or individuals
.co.kr
.ne.kr	Network
.or.kr	Non-commercial
.re.kr	Research
.pe.kr	Personal	Individuals
.go.kr	Government	Administration, Legislation and Judicature
.mil.kr	Military	Military organizations
.ac.kr	Colleges or universities (academy)	Colleges or universities
.hs.kr	High schools	High schools
.ms.kr	Middle schools	Middle schools
.es.kr	Elementary schools	Elementary schools
.sc.kr	Schools	Other education organizations
.kg.kr	Kindergartens	Kindergartens
.seoul.kr	Seoul	Organizations or individuals that have a connection with the relevant areas[a]
.busan.kr	Busan
.daegu.kr	Daegu
.incheon.kr	Incheon
.gwangju.kr	Gwangju
.daejeon.kr	Daejeon
.ulsan.kr	Ulsan
.gyeonggi.kr	Gyeonggi Province
.gangwon.kr	Gangwon Province
.chungbuk.kr	North Chungcheong Province (Chungbuk)
.chungnam.kr	South Chungcheong Province (Chungnam)
.jeonbuk.kr	North Jeolla Province (Jeonbuk)[b]
.jeonnam.kr	South Jeolla Province (Jeonnam)[b]
.gyeongbuk.kr	North Gyeongsang Province (Gyeongbuk)
.gyeongnam.kr	South Gyeongsang Province (Gyeongnam)
.jeju.kr	Jeju Province
한글.kr[c]	unlimited	Organizations or individuals
.한국[d]

Defunct domains and subdomains

Domains and Subdomains	Areas	Reasons for cessation
.pusan.kr	Busan (Pusan)	Revision of the Korean romanization[e]
.taegu.kr	Daegu (Taegu)
.inchon.kr	Incheon (Inch'ŏn)
.kwangju.kr	Gwangju (Kwangju)
.taejon.kr	Daejeon (Taejŏn)
.kyonggi.kr	Gyeonggi-do (Kyŏnggi)
.kangwon.kr	Gangwon-do (Kangwon)
.chonbuk.kr	Jeollabuk-do (Chŏnbuk)
.chonnam.kr	Jeollanam-do (Chŏnnam)
.kyongbuk.kr	Gyeongsangbuk-do (Kyŏngbuk)
.kyongnam.kr	Gyeongsangnam-do (Kyŏngnam)
.cheju.kr	Jeju-do (Cheju)
.nm.kr	Network	Changed to the .ne.kr

Domain hacks

.kr domains are sometimes used as domain hacks such as flic.kr, an alternative address for Flickr.

New generic top level domains registered by South Korean organizations or individuals

• .doosan: A new brand gTLD for the Doosan Group.
• .hyundai: A new brand gTLD for the Hyundai Motor Group.
• .kia: A new brand gTLD for Kia Motors.
• .samsung: A new brand gTLD for the Samsung Group.
• .lotte: A new brand gTLD for the Lotte Group.
• .닷넷 (.xn--t60b56a; .dat-net): A new technology gTLD. Korean Hangul transliteration of English "dotnet."
• .닷컴 (.xn--mk1bu44c; .dat-keom): A new technology gTLD. Korean Hangul transliteration of English "dotcom."
• .삼성 (.xn--cg4bki; .Samseong): A new brand gTLD for the Samsung Group.

See also

• .kp: The top-level domain for North Korea
• Communications in South Korea

Footnotes

1. Two-syllable short names of upper level local autonomies (provinces or provincial-level cities).
2. Jeolla's Hangul spelling is 전라 (Jeon-la) but the current romanization of Korean transcribes actual pronunciation, so the region is romanized as Jeolla. In the Korean phonology, the /nl/ sequence should be assimilated to [ll] or [nn]. However, the original [n] phoneme is preserved in Jeonbuk and Jeonnam, the short names for the North and South Jeolla Provinces.
3. Internationalized domain names (IDNs) under .kr. IDNs contains Korean Hangul only plus optional numbers and hyphens.
4. Internationalized domain names (IDNs) under .한국 (Punycode: .xn--3e0b707e; Revised Romanization of Korean: .Hanguk). IDNs contains Korean Hangul only plus optional numbers and hyphens.
5. The government has changed the official Korean romanization from its own variant of McCune–Reischauer to the current scheme in 2000. Hyphens (-), apostrophes (') and breves (˘) were omitted in defunct subdomains for autonomous regions.