14 DAY TRIAL // Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt is in South Korea to promote his company and also work on a few deals and even acquisitions. While Google trails in search in the country, it is starting to make a name for itself via Android, which is popular with both South Koreans and the South Korean phone makers.
But Google is also banking on something else popular in the country, K-pop, as it is said that YouTube is working on creating a dedicated platform for pop stars in the country, perhaps a bit more than just an YouTube channel.
Details are scarce, but it seems that Eric Schmidt made a promise of such a channel to South Korean President Lee Myung Bak earlier today, The Next Web reported citing the local Yonhap News Agency.
The news comes directly from the president's office, but there are no further details. At the very least, YouTube could set up a dedicated channel for Korean pop, but there may be more involved.
Google has been working on making an even bigger name for YouTube, by getting more professional content on the site. It recently announced a deal to create dozens of new channels featuring original content that would come close to TV-quality production values.
The long term goal is to transform YouTube into the main way people watch any video, including TV.
Big-name stars and quality content will help, but YouTube is a global brand and has to cater to local audiences as well. That's why it's been opening up localized versions of the site which surface content relevant to the region they're serving.
South Korea is a special case since a lot more people are going to know about YouTube than the Google search engine. The country has one of the biggest and fastest internet infrastructure and online video is already quite commonplace, in more advanced forms than much of the rest of the world.