Global software giant Microsoft Corp. said Tuesday it is looking into setting up a data center in Korea.

Microsoft Korea said its country manager James Kim told Choi See-joong, chairman of the Korea Communications Commission, that he would strongly recommend establishing a data center for the Asian region in Korea during their meeting last week at the company’s Silicon Valley campus.

“We’re currently in discussion about building a data center in Asia to provide cloud computing services,” Kim reportedly said in his conversation with Choi. “Korea is becoming a strong candidate following the massive earthquake in Japan.”

Kim also said that the cheap electricity fee in Korea is among the important reasons for Microsoft’s consideration.

Although the scale, total investment amount and establishment date for the next data center in Asia have not been fixed, it is expected to become the most high tech one compared to the existing data centers.

Microsoft currently has seven data centers across the world, including three in the U.S., two in Europe and the remaining two in Singapore and Hong Kong.

If Microsoft picks Korea as its next data center mine, it will become the third data center in Asia for the company, beating strong candidate countries in nearby countries such as Japan and China.

“We believe building the data center in Korea for cloud computing will be meaningful for Microsoft as well,” said Choi, backed with the Korean government’s support for such establishments by global IT firms.

The event takes place months after local mobile carrier KT Corp. and Japan’s Softbank announced its joint venture to provide cloud computing service to Japanese firms by the first half of next year.

As part of the effort, the two firms said they would build a data center in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, in October to offer data recovery services as well as cloud computing.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)