YouTube co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Steve Chen talks to the media in downtown Seoul, Tuesday, about the popular video-sharing Web site’s performance in Korea. / Yonhap


By Jane Han
Staff Reporter

Local media and critics have been quick to criticize the disappointing penetration of YouTube, the globally popular video-sharing Web site, in the Korean market soon after its kickoff here on Jan. 23. But the co-founder of the mega-successful online service seemed to think differently.

``It would be foolish to say that we've finished this site in Korea,'' Steve Chen, the 30-year-old chief technology officer of the Google-owned YouTube, told a press conference Tuesday.

Wearing jeans and casually gripping a coffee cup, the young entrepreneur who brought life to the user-generated content boom in the U.S. and Europe said, with ease, that work was just about to get started in Korea, a market already saturated with video-sharing Web services.

Acknowledging that only a translated version has been introduced here, Chen said, ``We're going to make ongoing corrections as we make sure that customers help us build our custom features, tailored to the local market.''

He stressed, ``Youtube.com and Youtube.co.kr will be completely different.''

To beef up its weak locally-made content, Chen said YouTube signed additional deals with five new providers, on top of its nine existing partners including big players like CJ Internet and JYP Entertainment.

But aside from content buildup, YouTube still has some homework left to do.

The lack of censorship capabilities have been nailed as one of the biggest concerns, as sexual, violent and other controversial content has freely been exchanged on the site.

Regarding local government regulations, Chen said YouTube's Korea operation will work to resolve these matters. He added, ``We're going to be cooperative with regional laws to make sure we abide by what's allowed and what's not.''

Chen said YouTube historically took a U.S. and European focus on product development. But he stressed 2008 will be a year to build it with a ``Korean in mind, a Taiwanese in mind,'' implying that promotional efforts will take a different tack.

This visit was the YouTube mastermind's second trip to Korea, but his first time to meet with the media. YouTube PR officials say a few other major campaigns are planned during his stay.

The global site running in some 20 languages has been getting an unenthusiastic response here up against well-established leaders, such as Pandora TV and Daum.

The concept understood worldwide as one of the smartest creations for the Internet was sold to Google, the world's largest Internet company, in 2006 for $1.65 billion.

jhan@koreatimes.co.kr