HONG KONG— Factiva has significantly extended its reach in Asia with the launch of Korean-language coverage and the addition of several leading South Korean news publications. Beginning Mar. 28, Factiva will include content from Maeil Business Newspaper, The Herald Business and Korea Newswire. Content from JoongAng Ilbo, JoongAng Sunday and Economist, in addition to news and commentary provided through the Dow Jones Korean Language Service, will be progressively added over the coming weeks.

The expanded Korean-language content comes as U.S. and European companies increasingly look to the South Korea market for trade and investment opportunities. The U.S.-South Korea free trade agreement, ratified in 2011, took effect on Mar. 15, 2012. Factiva's addition of these widely circulated, influential business and financial news sources greatly extends its search capabilities in South Korea and will complement an existing range of English-language sources already covered from South Korea.

Users will also be able to take advantage of Factiva‘s automated translation feature to translate search results into English, or one of more than 50 supported languages, to enhance their understanding of their organization’s brand or products as covered in influential South Korean media, as well as of their key partners or competitors.

David Chivers, vice president of Factiva at Dow Jones, said: “Factiva's ambitions to expand news and information sourced from South Korea are commensurate with the growing presence of South Korean brands in the U.S. and American brands in South Korea. With the combination of search, alert, snapshot and translation functions within Factiva, our users will be better equipped to identify and respond to opportunities in the South Korea market.”

South Korea is one of Asia's five-largest economies by nominal GDP and a growing source of and destination for foreign direct investment and global trade.