Korean Gaming Portal Firm to Launch in U.S.

NHN will launch a game portal site in the United States next March, enabling 2 million users worldwide to play simultaneously.

NHN CEO Kim Beom-su remarked in the Electronic Times that his nfirm was already set up the basic operational plan and will start the U.S. service in March 2006. The company’s public relations manager, Cho Eun-hyun, also said that 10 staff members are currently working at the U.S. branch.

NHN operates Naver, South Korea’s largest portal site, and Hangame, the largest online game site. Hangame has around 1.1 million users connected to its game servers during peak hours as the company estimates to have 230,000 users in South Korea, 100,000 in Japan and 750,000 in China. Experts forecast that with the rapid growth in the Chinese market, the total number of worldwide users can grow to up to 2 million next year when it begins service in the U.S.