Could ccTLDs like .CO.KR and .CO.JP offer opportunities for domain investors?

As many of you know I’ve been going back and forth between the US and Asia for over twenty years now. I’m learning Japanese, my wife is learning Korean, and yes we do plan to move to Asia at some point in our forties. All of this is to say, that as someone that has been going to Asia for years, and who also happens to be a bit of a domain geek, I can’t help but think about the investment opportunities that almost nobody is talking about.

We spent Christmas and New Years in Seoul, South Korea last year and .CO.KR and .KR domains were everywhere. The South Korean economy is booming and they happen to have the fastest Internet in the world. Oh and just in case you thought for a second we had faster Internet here in the US, we’re #10 for regular Internet, #30 for mobile, South Korea is #1 for both.

All this being said, you’d think that after being in the domain investing space for 13 years I would come across an investor who buys and sells .CO.KR or .CO.JP somINA, but no, hasn’t happened yet. When I was in South Korea I talked to a friend who knows about the space, he says there are Domainers anD as you’d imagine, they’re doing really well with .CO.KR and .KR names.

While we all know there’s a thriving domain market in China, I think other countries get overlooked…and that’s where there could be some real opportunities. Given that I’m learning Japanese I’ve decided to start to learn more about the domain investing world in Japan. I know I have some blog readers in Japan, so if you’re reading this and want to share either publicly in a comment or privately, via email, that would be awesome.

One of the things I love about the domain industry is all the different ways people can make money and all the opportunities that exist. A good example for me was .IO, I started buying .IO names five years ago, then people looked at me like I was crazy, now I know investors paying thousands of dollars, wholesale for names. While I wouldn’t recommend anyone go crazy and invest in all non .COMs, I do think taking some risks and testing the waters with other TLDs makes a lot of sense.

Since ccTLDs haven’t been on my radar for some time now I’m looking forward to exploring and maybe even getting a chance to put my Japanese to the test as I explore the Japanese domain market in more depth. For those saying, “oh no, Morgan’s abandoning .COM!” That’s not the case, two-word .COMs have been and from what I can see always will be my main focus, but that doesn’t mean I won’t always be on the lookout for new opportunities.

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton