Fox Korea managing director Jesse Lee has been named generalmanager for Fox Japan and will replace Toshiharu Karaki, who is leaving to pursueother interests.

Lee's appointment will take effect on Jul 1. He has served asgeneral manager for both the theatrical and home entertainment divisions of FoxKorea since 2000, starting at Fox Korea in 1993 as home entertainment marketingdirector.

Prior to Fox he served as marketing manager at Puma from 1989-90,and began his career at the Lotte advertising agency in 1986.

"We are sorry to see Toshi leave Twentieth Century FoxInternational, but respect his decision to do so," Twentieth CenturyInternational co-presidents Tomas Jegeus and Paul Hanneman said in a joint statement."We thank him for his contributions to Fox in Japan and wish him only thebest in his upcoming ventures.

"But we are also lucky that Jesse has accepted the role. Hehas been crucial in making Fox a formidable player in the Korean film market. Theskills and talents which he has demonstrated with such box office hits as IceAge 2 and The Omen will perfectly complement our strong teamin Tokyo. Under Jesse's leadership, Fox Japan is certain to continue on asuccessful path forward."

Karaki added: "I am very proud of the dedicated team we havebuilt here and am certain that Jesse will accelerate our ongoing efforts in termsof making Twentieth Century Fox Japan the leading MPA distributor in thiscountry."

"With Fox's exciting and diverse upcoming slate including X-Men:The Last Stand [set toopen in Japan on Sept 9], The Devil Wears Prada [Nov 18], and Eragon [Dec 16], we have a great year ahead ofus," Lee said.