FORTUNE will launch a local edition in Korea this spring.
The announcement was made Monday by Hugh Wiley, publisher of Time. Inc. and Chang Jae-ku, chairman of the Hankook Ilbo-Korea Times media group.
FORTUNE Korea will be published monthly, in Korean, through a license agreement between Time Inc. and Hankook Ilbo, the parent daily of The Korea Times.
It will be FORTUNE's fourth foreign-language edition, following FORTUNE China and FORTUNE Turkey, as well as biannual special issues of FORTUNE Greece.
The launch of FORTUNE Korea follows a successful partnership between Time Inc. and Hankook Ilbo in publishing a Korean edition of Golf Magazine, which has become a leader in ad sales and one of the leading men's luxury magazines in Korea.
Time and Hankook Ilbo expect FORTUNE Korea to be a top competitor in the Korean business magazine market.
``On behalf of the Hankook Ilbo media group, I feel honored that we will have the chance to be part of the world's most prestigious business magazine," said Chang, chairman of the media group.
"I think we share with FORTUNE the values of editorial independence and high journalistic standards. We look forward to providing Korean readers with superb coverage of global and local business issues,'' he added.
``The launch of FORTUNE Korea is especially good news as we are facing one of our most difficult economic times," said Song Tae-gueon, FORTUNE Korea's managing editor. "It is interesting to note that FORTUNE came into being at the beginning of the Great Depression 78 years ago and that it has since been very successful by providing a fresh perspective to its worldwide audience.
That is a good example for us today."
``The Korean business market has grown significantly over the past 10 years, creating a need for FORTUNE's high-quality and in-depth business journalism," said Hugh Wiley, publisher of the U.S. business magazine.
"Hankook Ilbo has a proven track record in Korea. This partnership will no doubt be the benchmark of business journalism in Korea,'' he added.