SEOUL,KOREA- SK Planet, the mobile platform unit of SK Telecom, will invest up to 1 trillion won in the United States.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal and ZDNet, SK Planet president Seo Jinwoo said on June 27, "Within 3 to 5 years from now we will acquire a U.S. tech company or establish a new one." "The investment volume will be to the tune of US$500 million to $1 billion," he added. This is the first time for the company to reveal its investment plan.

 

As a first step to the U.S. offensive, the company will unveil "Frankly," a messenger app. According to Cha Bong-joon, an SK Planet technical manager, "The new app is currently developed by a team of developers consisting of 40 top programmers hired from Google and Apple. The official service kickoff schedule has not been set." The Wall Street Journal said, however, it is likely to be introduced during the summer this year.

 

The Frankly app will include features of "Tik Tok," a mobile messenger developed by MAD Smart, a startup company acquired in April 2012 by SK Planet. SK Planet will use San Francisco as its base in the U.S. market.