U.S.-based YouTube, a global video-sharing site marking its 10th anniversary this year, said Tuesday South Korea has become one of its key markets, expecting further growth in the local online video streaming market on the back of the mobile-ridden local users.  
  

The U.S. video-sharing giant started its Korean-language service in 2008.
  

"Korea has always been an exciting market for us. It was one of the first countries we launched in. And the success we have seen here is great. We have seen an over 110-percent growth here on-year (for the first quarter of 2015) in watch time," YouTube Contents & Operations Director Gautam Anand told Yonhap News Agency.
  

YouTube, however, did not provide detailed data, including the number of local users and watch time, citing corporate privacy. It did, however, say 80 percent of its views come from outside the United States.
  

According to him, the South Korean market for online video streaming will "absolutely" continue to grow.
  

"Globally, we are 50 percent mobile, but in Korea, it's 70 percent mobile. So we have to make sure to continue to invest in technology…and make sure we have the best video products out there."
  

South Korea had grabbed the video platform operator's attention when "Gangnam Style," the mega-hit single by South Korean rapper Psy, held 1 billion views for the first time in December 2012. It has surpassed the 2.3 billion mark as of last month.
  

"Gangnam Style even now gets a million views everyday," Anand added.
  

The YouTube official said over the past 10 years, the story of online videos has been the story of YouTube. "It has created the platform where anyone can share videos with a global audience. Today, it has become a platform that defines culture," he said.
  

Currently, YouTube, taken over in 2006 by Google Inc., is provided in 76 different languages, with 300 hours of video being uploaded onto the platform every hour, a significant growth from the 24 hours posted in 2010. (Yonhap)