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Naver Corporation () is an Internet content service operator headquartered in Seongnam, South Korea. Established in 1999 as NHN Corporation (''N''ext ''H''uman ''N''etwork), it operates the Naver search portal and Hangame gaming services. Its subsidiaries in Japan operate the Line messaging application as well as the Japanese versions of Naver and Hangame. On September 4, 2013, NHN Corporation split into Naver Corporation and a subsidiary named NHN Entertainment. ==History== NHN Corporation was formed in September 2001 through the merger of Hangame Communications, Inc., maker of online games, and Naver Corporation, operator of a comprehensive search portal. Both companies had been launched a few years earlier: Hangame in November 1998 and Naver in June 1999. Upon the merger the name of the company became "Next Human Network", or NHN, although both divisions continue to operate under their original brand names. Naver and Hangame each had established affiliates in Japan in 2000. These likewise merged in October 2003 to become NHN Japan with Naver Japan and Hangame Japan as subsidiaries. In June 2004 NHN formed Ourgame, a joint venture company in China with Sea Rainbow Holdings, though NHN eventually sold its stake in October 2011. In July 2005, NHN USA was incorporated and launched the ijji game portal in May 2007. NHN sold its stake in this enterprise in December 2011.〔http://www.nhncorp.com/nhnen_/ir/AnnualReport/2012/NHN_2011_AR_ENG.pdf〕 In 2008 NHN appeared on the Forbes Global 2000 list for the first time. () That same year NHN had the largest market capitalization among KOSDAQ-listed companies before being transferred to the Kospi market in November. In 2009 Kim Sang-Hun of NHN and Jing-Wan Kim of Samsung were the only South Korean CEOs to appear on Asia's Fab 50.() In 2010 NHN bought Livedoor, a Japanese ISP and blog platform that claimed considerable resources but was undone by a trading scandal. In June 2011, NHN Japan launched Line, a messaging application that quickly soared in usage. In 2012 NHN Corp announced that it planned to invest 1.5 billion South Korean won (approx. 1.35 million USD) in developing ten social media games.() In 2013 NHN reorganized its Japan operations. Today, Line Corporation handles Internet products while Hangame Japan continues to develop gaming applications.〔http://thenextweb.com/asia/2013/02/06/nhn-japan-spins-off-its-line-messaging-business-to-focus-on-its-international-expansion/〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Naver Corporation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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