Available in | English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Thai |
---|---|
Headquarters |
San Francisco,
United States (Global) Seoul, South Korea (Korean offices) |
Owner |
Rakuten Inc. ( Viki) |
URL |
www |
Registration | Optional |
Launched | March 1998 |
Current status | Active |
Soompi is an English-language website providing coverage of Korean pop culture. [1] It has one of the largest international Internet communities for K-pop, [2] mostly concentrated in news and forums. With more than 23 million fans across all platforms, Soompi offers English and Spanish services. [3]
Since its establishment in 1998, Soompi has grown into one of the longest-running, and most frequently visited websites providing coverage of Korean music, celebrity news and entertainment. [4] [5] [6] [7]
Initially its visitors were mostly Koreans residing in foreign nations, with over 1.2 million people visiting the site. However, as of 2012, the majority of its members are non-Koreans in the United States, Canada, Singapore, the Philippines, and Malaysia, among others. [8] [9]
Soompi was founded in 1998 by Korean American web developer Susan Kang, [10] [11] In February 2011, it was acquired by Enswers, Inc., [12] [13] [14] a Seoul-based IT venture company specializing in video search technology, [15] and operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of it. When Enswers was acquired by another company, Soompi found a new home with Crunchyroll, a U.S.-based VOD site that specializes in anime, in 2013.[ citation needed] Viki acquired Soompi on August 19, 2015. [16]
Soompi is also known for its annual Soompi Awards, [17] which began in 2005, and recognise K-pop and Korean drama acts. [18] Winners are selected partially based on fan voting and partially based on Soompi's music charts. [18]
of Soompi.com, an English language authority for Korean entertainment.
"Girls' Generation are easily the biggest girl group in all of Asia," says Susan Kang, founder and CEO of Soompi.com, the largest English-language K-pop site.
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