The number of subscribers for Facebook-owned social-networking service Instagram in Korea grew at the fastest pace in the world this year, according to Facebook Korea on Monday. Benjamin Joe, the country manager of Facebook Korea, announced this during a press meeting at the firm’s head office in Seoul. Although he refused to reveal the exact number of users here, he said the entire number of users worldwide crossed 400 million and is on the rise.

The photo- and video-sharing mobile platform has started gaining traction since last year in Korea, as many Korean celebrities, including K-pop singers and actors, flocked to the mobile app to communicate with their fans more intuitively with pictures.The mobile app also serves as an important marketing tool for businesses, according to Facebook Korea.The country manager said Instagram has gained popularity here as it meets the demands of enterprises that want to make creative visual content for their marketing campaigns.In line with its recent push for video services, Facebook is also planning to launch a live broadcasting service as early as next year.The California-based firm has recently put more weight on enterprise businesses as well.It has been expanding its partnerships with Korean conglomerates and small- and medium-sized firms to create marketing campaigns and advertisements utilizing videos.“Those videos created based on the data of Facebook users surgically target individual consumers,” Joe said, assuring that sensitive information of individual users including name and age are securely protected.A video featuring a speech-impaired mom singing a birthday song for her fully able daughters with the help of voice donors, for example, struck a chord with many Facebook users this year. Facebook worked with life insurance firm AIA Korea to make the video.Pledging to strengthen its ties with Korean businesses, the manager said Facebook would serve as a springboard for Korean SMEs to tap into global markets.The social media company runs a range of support programs for SMEs, including the Blueprint eLearning programs, together with venture capitals here.Facebook currently has 1.6 billion monthly active users while its mobile messenger app WhatsApp and online chatting app Messenger have 900 million and 7 million users, respectively.By Kim Young-won ( wone0102@heraldcorp.com