Soompi
 | |
| Available in | English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Thai |
|---|---|
| Owner |
Rakuten Inc. (Viki) |
| Website | www.soompi.com |
| Alexa rank |
 4,688 (August 2015)[1] |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | 1998 |
| Current status | Active |
Soompi is an English-language website providing coverage of Korean pop culture.[2] It has one of the largest international Internet community for K-pop,[3] mostly concentrated in its forums. More than 7,500,000 people are visiting Soompi every month, which offers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Thai services to cater to people from non-English speaking countries.[4]
Since its establishment in the late 1990s, Soompi has grown into an authoritative source for Korean popular culture, and is one of the longest-running, and most frequently visited websites providing coverage of K-pop music.[5][6][7][8]
At first, its visitors were mostly Koreans residing in foreign nations, with over 1.2 million people visiting the site. Currently, however, the majority of its members are non-Koreans in the United States, Canada, Singapore, the Philippines, and Malaysia, among others. Some 6 million people log on to the site every month and about 40% of its traffic originates from North America.[9][10]
History
Soompi was founded in 1998 by Korean American web developer Susan Kang;[11][12] the site quickly gained traction with fans throughout the world.[10] In February 2011, Soompi was acquired by Enswers, Inc.,[13][14][15] a Seoul-based IT venture company specializing in video search technology,[16] and operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of it.
Soompi launched Soompi France in 2011 and Soompi Spanish in 2012, and it works closely with major Korean entertainment agencies such as JYP Entertainment,[17] S.M. Entertainment,[18] and YG Entertainment.[19][20]
Viki acquired Soompi on August 19, 2015.[21]
References
- ↑ "Soompi.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
- ↑ "Soompi.com shows Hallyu where to go". Korea Herald. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
- ↑ "Have You Heard Of Soompi? It's The Largest English Community For The Korean Wave". Advanced Technology Korea. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
- ↑ "KT - New Strategies for Media & Contents industry". koreaittimes.com
- ↑ Bue, Jonathan. "K-Pop's Connection to CSUN". Daily Sundial. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
of Soompi.com, an English language authority for Korean entertainment.
- ↑ "Can Girls Generation break through in America?". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
“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.
- ↑ "Ways to keep the Wave rolling around the world". Korea Joongang Daily. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
- ↑ "Gangname-style viral popularity in US has koreans puzzled gratified". The Wall Street Journal.
- ↑ "Web triggers global renaissance of Korean Wave". Korea Joongang Daily. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
- 1 2 "Soompi – A Site Where Netizens Revel in Korean Culture". Koreabrand.net. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
- ↑ "Music Of The Seoul". The Daily. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
- ↑ "Founder of largest English K-pop site Soompi". Korea Times. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
- ↑ "Enswers Acquires Soompi Korean Entertainment community". allthingsd.com. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
- ↑ "Enswers' history". enswersinc.com. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
- ↑ "SOOMPI.COM - the Korean Pop Culture Site". Hancinema. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
- ↑ "Translation services make World Wide Web more worldwide". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
- ↑ "JYP x Soompi Rising Legends". soompi.com. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
- ↑ "Exclusive SNSD Video Interview And Shout Out To Soompi". soompi.com. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
- ↑ "Exclusive Look Into YGE Headquarters". soompi.com. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
- ↑ "KPOPCON Part 1: Soompi Keynote". Kpop Kollective. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
- ↑ "Viki Buys Korean Fan Community Soompi from Peter Chernin's Crunchyroll". Variety. Retrieved 12 September 2015.