Important message: Naver’s LINE passes 300 million users

The number of subscribers to Naver’s flagship messaging service, LINE, surpassed 300 million yesterday, according to the company.

LINE was launched in June 2011 in Japan by LINE Corporation, a Tokyo-based affiliate of Korea’s top portal service provider. It logged 200 million subscribers in June, five months after it reached the 100 million mark. Naver said it is targeting 500 million subscribers next year.

Japan and other East Asian countries are LINE’s biggest market, but Naver said its user base is quickly growing in other parts of the world including Spain, Mexico and India. In India, 10 million people are using the instant messaging service three months after it was launched and the number is expected double within a year, the company said.

The messaging service offers free phone calls among users.