London – Hit motoring series Top Gear is continuing to make inroads into Asia, as BBC Worldwide announces that South Korea is the latest country to license the format. CJ E&M, South Korea’s biggest media conglomerate, will launch a brand new local version of the show on men’s lifestyle channel XTM from August this year. The 13 weekly episodes will be hosted by former professional racing driver Kim Jin-Pyo, car and bike enthusiast Kim Kap-Soo and Yeon Jung-Hoon, member of the Korean celebrity racing circuit. Top Gear Korea will include popular elements from the original format, including the Stig, and its very own version of the Top Gear track and studio. The presenters will also test cars to the limit and undertake their own Top Gear challenges, including paradriving, racing the KTX ‘bullet train’, and an exhilarating race from Seoul to the southern port city of Busan. Local stars will also be invited to the studio to take part in the show’s version of the original Star in a Reasonably Priced Car section, in what will be entitled Star Lap Time. Top Gear is one of BBC Worldwide’s flagship brands; the original UK version has been licensed to198 territories globally. Earlier this year the format made its Asian debut on Hunan TV in China.