Instagram, the photo-sharing mobile application owned by Facebook, is aiming high with its advertising business in Korea, one of its fastest-growing markets. 

“Korea is one of the fastest-growing markets for Instagram, with the number of users soaring 100 percent over the past year,” said Benjamin Jo, head of Facebook Korea, at a media event in Seoul on Thursday, declining to give detailed numbers.

“The service’s flexibility allows us to expand ties with diverse Korean companies, both big and small.”

Facebook, the world’s biggest social network, has seen a surge in sales in recent months, largely fueled by its mobile advertising efforts. The company also brought the marketing push to Instagram in September.

Instagram is especially pinning high hopes on Asia. Over the past nine months, more than 100 million users have joined the service, with more than half of them coming from Asia or Europe. The total user number exceeded 400 million this year.

According to a survey conducted on 1,246 Korean users, women in their 20s and 30s were the most active users, while almost half of their followers were total strangers.

Compared to other similar services, Instagram enjoys a greater reputation for its trendy and sophisticated content that also appeals to brands and companies as a marketing platform.

But the “unfollow” rate was also high, almost 40 percent, depending on the account owner and quality of the content. The company advised marketers to take greater care in quality control than when using other services.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)