Facebook Inc., the operator of the world's
largest social networking site, released Friday a Korean-language mobile application in an effort to target the growing number of users in South
Korea.
The number of Koreans opening a Facebook account has recently surged, with local media reporting that Korea-based Facebook members number 1.1 million. But Facebook's local publicist declined to confirm the number.
"Facebook is keeping an eye on the South Korean market," Javier Olivan, the company's international manager was quoted as saying in a press release.
"With the rise of smartphones in South Korea, they've become a popular tool to access the Web here."
Besides the mobile application, Facebook also launched an official Web page (www.facebook.com/FacebookKorea). The company, however, kept mum on its plan to open a local office here.
Facebook and other foreign social networking sites have long struggled to find traction in South Korea because of popular local services. Cyworld, a Web portal operated by a local company, also offers blogs and personal Web pages. It has some 25 million members in a country with a population of just under 50 million.
But the fast rising popularity of smartphones in the country this year has facilitated the entry of global services like Facebook and Twitter into
the Korean market. By December, the number of smartphone users here is projected to reach as many as 5 million.
The Palo Alto, California-based company announced recently that members of Facebook.com reached 500 million worldwide as of Wednesday in just six years since the Web site was launched by its CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
By Lee Youkyung