KT Corp. to release iPhone in S. Korea

SEOUL, Nov. 22 (Yonhap) -- KT Corp., South Korea's largest broadband Internet
operator, said Sunday it will start selling Apple Inc.'s iPhone handsets here
this week, a move expected to challenge the nation's smart-phone market dominated
by Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc.
KT, which is also the nation's No. 2 mobile phone operator, will officially
introduce iPhone on Saturday, the company said in a statement.
The official debut of iPhone in South Korea will come 10 days after the nation's
telecom regulator, the Korea Communications Commission, approved the sale of the
device.
"I'm very happy that we are set to unveil iPhone for local customers," said Kim
Woo-shik, head of KT's division for individual customers.
The price of the 32-gigabyte iPhone 3GS is set at 396,000 won (US$341.30) for
customers who subscribe with a monthly service fee of 45,000 won, while the price
is 264,000 won for customers who subscribe with a monthly fee of 65,000 won,
according to the statement.
Officials at Apple's Korean unit weren't immediately available for comment.
In tech-savvy South Korea, about 46 million people out of the population of 48
million are mobile-phone subscribers, according to the telecom regulator's Web
site.
(END)