Speak promotional image / Captured from Speak's homepage

Colton Gyulay, chief operating officer at Speak

Korea has become the centerpiece of Speak's global growth strategy, as learners here have few chances to practice speaking despite their high level of exam-focused grammar and reading skills, the firm's chief operating officer said.

He described the country as its most strategically important market and a proving ground for products that are now expanding globally.

"Korea is and will always be a key market for us," Colton Gyulay, chief operating officer at Speak, said in a recent interview, noting that the company chose Korea as its first market when it launched in 2019.