South Korea claims to have launched the world's first 5G wireless network, ahead of Verizon

South Korea's top mobile operators kicked off fifth-generation ultra-fast wireless technology Wednesday night – and claimed the world's first 5G service by releasing it an hour before Verizon.

A lotus race between three South Korean telecom operators and Verizon began when the South Korean government set the launch date to Friday, exactly one week before Verizon plans to roll out its 5G services.

However, on Wednesday afternoon, local time, South Korea's Ministry of Science and Information Technology had told an American source that Verizon would try a surprise launch late in the evening, according to local reports.

The 5G could really make the difference in terms of reliability and accuracy in autonomous cars and remote services.

Alarmed by Verizon's sudden change of plans, South Korean mobile operators called for an emergency meeting with the ministry on Wednesday night, media reports said. The three mobile operators – SK Telecom, Korea Telecom and LG U + – quickly decided to launch their services immediately.

The 5G phone service – for a handful of celebrities, including Yuna Kim, Olympic figure skating medalist, Baekhyun from the EXO k-pop boys' group – was launched Wednesday at 11pm. local time (10:00 am EST).

Just 59 minutes later, on Wednesday at 10:59 pm EST, Verizon tweeted the launch of its 5G network in Minneapolis and Chicago.

"5G is here," the company. "For 19 years, Verizon has written history, and today it's the same: Chicago and Minneapolis are the world's first 5G mobility."

"The title of" world's first 5G "can have a promotional effect for a company [like] Verizon, but for South Korea, it's an advertisement for the whole country, "Kim Yeon-Hak, an Internet technology expert teaching at Sogang University told ABC News. "Electronics companies like Samsung, the factories, the production lines, the content of 5G phones … believe that everything that makes up the computer ecosystem will take place in a new era with the 5G network."

The new 5G technology allows considerably faster download speeds with almost no time to watch videos or load images. The data transmission speed is 20 times higher than the current LTE (4G Long-Term Evolution) wireless technology.

For businesses, ultra-fast wireless technology will offer better support for artificial intelligence, multimedia content, robotic factory lines, remote medical services and teleconferences for hologram communication. in such films as "Captain America" ​​and "Kingsman: The Secret Service." "

Mobile operators are competitively developing and introducing live broadcast services and photorealistic virtual reality experiences to prove that the 5G network is a change that is worth the cost of buying a new phone and phone. A package.

South Korea's new service will run on the new Samsung 5G compatible Galaxy S10 smartphone. LG Electronics plans to launch its own 5G smartphone later this month.

Verizon's Ultra Wideband customers must use the Motorola Z3 and a "5G Moto Mod" accessory, which allows the Z3 to connect to the 5G Ultra Wideband network.

While competition on 5G advertising is intense, mobile technology experts warn that the launch of the 5G service is just the beginning.

"Faster speed will not be a radical change for the average consumer. But the 5G could really make the difference in terms of reliability and accuracy in autonomous cars and remote services, "Kim told ABC News.

ABC News' Hansol Park contributed to this report.