JEJU - During a press conference at the Jeju Global Media Center, Daum Communications, Korea's second-largest Web portal, said it will launch a new service called "Live on Daum".  Choi Se-hoon, Daum CEO, said that the user's content experience will be more engaging and easy to access.

Choi said that “Live on Daum” differentiate their service form the others in the Korean market and will embrace the trend toward social networking.

“We have been all about promoting communication and relationships on our network, and that’s what we have been best at,” said Choi. “With new services, I am confident we will gain 30 percent of the search-engine market by next year since we have been constantly upgrading our service and I feel our search quality is the best.”

Daum’s home page will be taking on a new look. It will include "Live Story”which will provide updates on users who post or blog as well as other forums. They are also adding a “Live QnA” area that will have questions and answers on related themes and associate related news and answers from other users.

Daum began their service in 1995 and was the leader until 2004 when rival Naver overtook them. Naver remains in the lead by nearly a 3 to 1 margin with 63% of the market, compared to Daum with 23%. Daum feels that they may be able to regain as much as 30% of the market with their new services.

"We were said to be following the ways of Naver, but we no longer look at what they are doing and are focusing instead on a paradigm shift,” said Choi. “What we have been preparing was to change based on two big themes, electronic devices and platforms.”