Never a country to be left in the dust, South Korea now plans to begin 3D TV broadcasts using terrestrial transmissions, as opposed to the digital satellite approach favoured elsewhere. According to a report in The Korea Times, four of the country’s TV stations will begin terrestrial 3D broadcasts this month.

May 11, 2010 — The South Korean broadcasting authority, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), has reportedly published plans to allow up to three hours a day of live 3D broadcasting on the country’s four terrestrial TV stations. This plan will remain in place between May 19, when the broadcasts begin, and the start of the 2010 World Cup on June 11.

During the tournament, the number of permitted hours of live 3D broadcasting will be increased to match that of regular TV broadcasts. We reported recently that Sony will record 25 World Cup games in 3D and is in talks with international broadcasters interested in buying access to the 3D streams. One such broadcaster is the South Korean company SBS, which will take advantage of the KCC’s new regulations in order to bring viewers all 25 matches in 3D.

But how does this compare with the situation here in the UK? Well, although we’re often ahead of our European neighbours, we rarely keep pace with the Far East: We have Europe’s first HD news channel and Europe’s first dedicated 3D channel, but the latter, Sky 3D, still only broadcasts 3D material for a few hours a week. That’s set to change this Autumn, when Sky has said it’ll introduce a full spectrum of 3D broadcasts.

And when it comes to the World Cup, it looks like UK viewers will have to settle for watching in HD, as Sky has failed to secure rights to the 3D broadcasts. Anyone in the UK that wants to watch the games in 3D will have to head to one of around 50 venues in the UK — mostly cinemas — that will be showing the 25 games live in 3D. This is thanks to an agreement between Sony and a Swiss live-events company, Aruna Media. We’ll bring you a list of venues as soon as the news comes in.