Apple seeks approval to sell iPad in S.Korea: regulator

US technology giant Apple is seeking approval to sell its iPad in South Korea, the telecommunications regulator said Tuesday, after the iPhone's local popularity fanned interest in the tablet computer.

The Korea Communications Commission said in a statement it would make a decision within five days on the request by Apple's Korean unit for technical approval.

The touch-screen computer allows users to watch videos, listen to music, play games, surf the web or read electronic books.

A spokesman for KT Corp, local distributor of Apple's iPhone, told Yonhap news agency it hopes to release the iPad in November once the certification is completed. He did not give a specific date.

Apple rolled out its iPad in the US on April 3 and sold more than three million in 80 days.

It has shifted more than one million iPhones in South Korea since its debut in the country last November.

Its success prompted competitors such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics to roll out their own new smartphones including Samsung's Galaxy series and LG's Optimus.

Samsung is planning a domestic launch of its first tablet computer, the Galaxy Tab, before the end of this year through KT's rival SK Telecom.