SEOUL, Korea, Aug. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VeriSign, Inc.
(Nasdaq: VRSN), the leading provider of critical infrastructure services for the Internet and telecommunications networks, today announced its plan to deploy one of its global DNS constellation sites in Korea. Korea Network Information Center (KRNIC), the organization that acts as the registry of the .kr country code top-level domain (ccTLD) extension, has been chosen to host the constellation site. The announcement was made in Seoul at a ceremony with KRNIC. The agreement was also made possible by the participation of the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC), which provided invaluable input and advice to VeriSign in making the decision to invest in the Korean Internet infrastructure.
"Choosing KRNIC to host the global constellation site solidifies Korea's status as a leading Internet nation," stated Dr. Kwan-ho Song, President of KRNIC. "Hosting this important Internet hub fits perfectly with our mission to construct and support a stable Internet environment for Korean users."

"MIC is very happy that VeriSign has recognized the need to place a constellation site inside of Korea," said Mr. Kyung-won Chung, Director General for Information Infrastructure, Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC). "64.1% of Korean people have Internet access, and more than ten million households are subscribing to broadband access. Because of this we have recognized a DNS constellation site is the most important factor
for ensuring Korean Internet connectivity. And this will contribute not only to the stability of Korean Internet service but also service in the entire Asia-Pacific region. We look forward to continuing cooperation with the U. S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and Verisign, Inc., for the development and stable administration of the global Internet infrastructure."

Internet DNS traffic has been doubling every 12-18 months globally, with Asian growth faster than any other region in the world. By adding a constellation site in Korea in addition to present locations in Asia, VeriSign hopes to improve the Internet response time to Korean users and also to Internet users in the entire East Asian area. Locating the site with KRNIC can also help improve the ability of the Korean Internet infrastructure to withstand the negative effects resulting from computer viruses or Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks.

"We are very pleased to be making this significant investment in the
Korean infrastructure because we recognize Korea is a world-wide leader in technology," said Rusty Lewis, executive vice president of VeriSign's Naming and Directory Services. "We look forward to collaborating with KRNIC and the MIC on this and other future initiatives."

VeriSign Naming & Directory Services manages over 30 million digital
identities and is the authoritative directory for all .com, .net, .cc, and .tv domain names. Using the proprietary Advanced Transaction Look-Up and Signaling (ATLAS(TM)) convergence platform, VeriSign processes over 9 billion interactions daily. Companies can leverage this powerful and proven platform to support their mission-critical business applications across disparate networks, devices, and end points.

The Korean DNS constellation site will contain an authoritative master list of all top-level and country-specific domain names, and will provide any and all resolution services required by Korean users. KRNIC is currently preparing their data center to host the constellation site. Deployment is expected to be complete by the end of the year.

About VeriSign
VeriSign, Inc., delivers critical infrastructure services that make the
Internet and telecommunications networks more intelligent, reliable, and secure. Every day VeriSign helps thousands of businesses and millions of consumers connect, communicate, and transact with confidence. Additional news and information about the company is available at http://www.verisign.com.

About MIC
MIC is the governmental organization of Korea that is responsible for the development of information technologies and policies that benefit the nation of Korea. At the same time, MIC promotes quality of life and the general well being by promoting the IT benefits to people in general. Based on the most- advanced IT infrastructure, MIC will push ahead with appropriate policies and create an environment whereby Korea serves as a test-bed for cutting-edge IT products, a center of Internet traffic, and a focal point of high-tech R&D and standardization activities.

About Korea Network Information Center (KRNIC)
KRNIC was founded on June 1999 to manage .KR top-level domain, to allocate IP addresses to local ISPs, to publish Internet-related statistics, and etc. Since its foundation, the number of domain names under KRNIC's management has increased rapidly because of the extremely high penetration of the broadband Internet access and the large number of Internet users in Korea.

Statements in this announcement other than historical data and information constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause VeriSign's
actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, VeriSign's limited operating history under its current business structure, uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results; the ability of VeriSign to successfully develop and market new services and customer acceptance of any new services; the risk that VeriSign's announced strategic relationships may not result in additional products, services, customers and revenues; increased competition and pricing pressures; and risks related to potential security breaches. More information about potential factors that could affect the company's business and financial results is included in VeriSign's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the company's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2002 and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. VeriSign undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward- looking statements after the date of this press release.

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SOURCE VeriSign, Inc.
Web Site: http://www.verisign.com

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