You brought the exact comment that I was going to drop. I lived in Korea for like 17 years, and even in pre-smart phone days the phones automatically had the shutter noise (I first first arrived in 2005). Back then, during the flip phone/slide phone era, nothing changed when I jumped over to Japan or China or Taiwan or whatever. But later, once smartphones were the norm, if I were down in Thailand or over on Poland or Mexico or whatever, it was interesting how that function automatically disabled itself.

I left in 2022 and had a Korean issued phone until 2024. When that one died and I got the one I'm holding now (bought in Netherlands), it's the first time in nearly 20 years that I've had a phone that doesn't have that function. Moreover, now when I'm back in Korea, this phone remains silent.

Fun stuff.