Lee Hong Sun, president of Softbank Korea, was cited as saying the joint venture will invest an additional US$300 million in the second half of this year in promising Korean Internet-related businesses, according to its press agency Dream Com.
This month, a venture between Softbank Corp and Naray Mobile Telecom Corp is scheduled to invest US$100 million in Korean Internet-related ventures. Softbank Corp owns 80 percent of the venture, while Korean telecom service provider Naray owns 20 percent.
Korea's Internet market is expected to be the second largest this year in Asia behind Japan. Korea's Internet users now total 13 million, or 30 percent of its total population. The market is expected to increase more than 10-fold in the next three to five years, Softbank predicts.
Tokyo-based Softbank shares have dropped 7.8 percent so far this year, compared with an 8 percent decline in the TPX Index.
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