Amazon.com is expected to increase efforts to enter the Korean market, according to industry sources. Amazon’s recent recruitment of Doug Yeum, the former chief of Google Korea, is fueling speculations that the world’s largest online retail company is moving to take advantage of a growing demand in Korea’s online shopping market.  

According to reports, Amazon plans to enter the Korean e-commerce market in 2014, potentially posing a major threat to existing domestic services and promising to further globalize the online shopping experience that has until now been dominated by domestic players. “As far as I know, Amazon is currently preparing to enter the Korean market,” an industry source said, adding that local companies are gearing up for a possible showdown with the world’s largest e-commerce company.