Mobile messenger Kakao Talk unveils digital content shop, seeks US partner

SEOUL, South Korea – Kakao Talk, a popular mobile messenger in South Korea, is launching an online music and electronic book shop next year as it continues to grow beyond its original mission to provide a simple online messaging service.

Kakao CEO Sirgoo Lee said Tuesday the shop named “Kakao Page” will provide publishing tools for artists, writers, musicians and other creative types to sell and market their songs, music videos and electronic books to 66 million Kakao Talk users.

Its founder and chairman Brian Kim said Kakao also hopes to partner with U.S. companies such as Google and Facebook to reach U.S. smartphone users.

The three-year-old company has about half of its users in South Korea. Kakao joined with Yahoo! Japan last month to expand its service in Japan.

News from © The Associated Press, . All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Join the Conversation!

Want to share your thoughts, add context, or connect with others in your community?

The Associated Press

The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world’s population sees AP journalism every day.