April 25, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Google Korea announced on Feb. 2it is working to introduce a new viewer function that lets users directly view documents from Hancom Office, the South Korean equivalent of Microsoft Word, on its web browser Chrome.

The US internet giant is currently conducting tests on a new viewer function that lets Chrome users open .hwp format documents in the browser. The firm has yet to determine exactly when the new feature will be added, Google Korea said.

Chrome currently allows users to open and view Microsoft Word documents and Adobe PDF files directly via the browser. Yet, the feature has not yet supported Hancom Office documents.

Some industry watchers speculate that Google has set out to upgrade its Chrome browser to fend off encroaching competition from Naver’s upcoming web browser Whale.

Google Chrome is currently the most popular web browser in Korea, with an estimated 50 percent of the domestic market share.

By Sohn Ji-young/The Korea Herald (jys@heraldcorp.com)