As mobile messaging services become increasingly integrated into people's everyday lives, Kakao Talk saw its daily traffic reach a record high on New Year's Day.

Kakao, which operates the free mobile messaging app, said on Wednesday that some 4.8 billion text messages were sent using the service on Tuesday. This is the highest number since the service was launched in March 2010. The previous high was 4.6 billion, recorded one day earlier.

Some 30 million people used the service on the first day of the New Year worldwide, 2 to 3 million more than usual. This is equivalent to two-thirds of the Korean population, with each user sending an average of 160 messages.

Kakao Talk now has some 70 million users worldwide.