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Welcome to Seoul, one of the world鈥檚 most technologically-advanced cities, where toilets sing to you once you鈥檝e done your business.

鈥淚t was like a little 鈥榳ell done鈥�,鈥� says Mylo Kaye, CEO of Manchester-based award-winning app development agency Dreamr. 鈥淚鈥檓 not seven, but thank you anyway.鈥�

South Korea also boasts the world鈥檚 fastest average internet speed and is consistently ranked top of the UN鈥檚 ICT Development Index.

Kaye visited the country with the Department for International Trade, experiencing the cutting-edge of virtual and augmented reality.

鈥淭echnology is so ingrained in everything,鈥� he recalls. 鈥淓ven to having a full phone signal. You can walk all the way through the subway to where you work and browse the internet, take calls and stream video.

鈥淚n the train station there are Samsung TVs everywhere. In the apartment I stayed in, everything is digital. You don鈥檛 have keys, you put in a code. Advertisers are always in your face.鈥�

Despite the overwhelming prevalence of tech, Kaye feels the UK and South Korea have a lot to learn from each other following meetings with the likes of LG and Samsung.

鈥淲e went to a government-backed innovation centre and they have the latest in VR and AR,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he government subsidises everything. So whatever you need, the government will pay half.

鈥淭he companies create tech, the building provides the space for you to put it on display then people can come in and test it.

鈥淭here was a company experimenting with 360-degree sound which had a soundproofed room set up. They had VR simulators for training pilots. Companies there are allowed to experiment beyond what normal people would be able to think about.

鈥淚t鈥檚 easy for them to do the research and development, whereas here you鈥檝e got to apply to Creative England if you want to do a project.鈥�

South Korea鈥檚 government recently invested around half a billion pounds into VR and AR, which Kaye describes as 鈥渏ust astonishing鈥�.

And he agrees you need to look a little further for why its tech game is so far ahead of other similarly-developed nations.

鈥淐an you imagine the UK Government investing that amount in AR and VR? In South Korea, they鈥檙e so developed in terms of infrastructure and connectivity.

鈥淚鈥檓 sure they have their problems, but here you can鈥檛 even get around Manchester without taking a bus as the major train stations don鈥檛 connect.鈥�

South Korea benefits from being home to two of the world鈥檚 biggest tech companies, LG and Samsung. The latter makes up 20 per cent of the country鈥檚 GDP.

According to Kaye, their huge financial contributions facilitate innovation on a scale beyond anywhere else in the world.

He adds: 鈥淭he internet speed in my hotel was far beyond anything you would get in our fibre. People feel they have a right to amazing infrastructure.鈥�

He sums up the difference in mentality between East and West by describing how he careered into a train barrier in a busy Seoul station: 鈥淏efore you go through the ticket barriers, they鈥檙e all open. When you put the ticket down, it allows the gate to stay open; if you don鈥檛 put one down, it closes.

鈥淗ow much energy must you save doing that? I would love to see that here.鈥�

Now back in his Manchester city centre office, there is one South Korean lesson Kaye intends to apply to his every day following a visit to a co-working space created by Hyundai in the Gangnam district.

The building was the epitome of what a co-working space should be 鈥� open spaces, yoga and massage chairs on every floor. Facilities available to residents at no extra charge include labs for testing apps, 3D printing and a photography studio.

鈥淏eing open to collaboration and innovation over there is a big thing,鈥� says Kaye.

鈥淚f it comes down to us forging that one special relationship with another company, then that鈥檚 worth it.鈥�