South Korea's top fixed-line network operator KT Corp. said Tuesday it has launched the Asia Pacific Gateway (APG) Network Operation Center in Busan to manage the submarine cable connecting South Korea and eight Asian countries.

"By opening the center, KT will take its role as the leader of the APG by managing the overall operation of the submarine cable," the company said. The APG is a 11,000-kilometer-long submarine cable that connects nine Asian countries, including South Korea, China and Japan, and is set to be completed next year.

KT forged a consortium along with China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom, Japan's NTT, Singapore's StarHub, and Facebook to push the APG project in 2011. The consortium broke ground for the project in 2013. 

"Once completed in 2015, the network will allow South Korea to emerge as the hub of communications in Northeast Asia," KT added. 

KT said the number of Internet users from countries under the APG network came to 900 million in 2013, accounting for 69 percent of Asia's 1.3 billion users, quoting the data compiled by market researcher Internet World Stats.

The APG network will cover South Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

KT's ceremony was held alongside the 19th International Telecommunications UnionPlenipotentiary Conference, referred to as PP-14, which continues until to Nov. 7. The event is held every four years, and this is the first time that South Korea plays host to the event. (Yonhap)