Local cellular phone manufacturers have decided to roll out handsets that are loaded with a Korean-standard wireless internet platform for interoperability, or WIPI.

The nation's leading cell phone makers, including Samsung and LG Electronics, said they would mostly load WIPI 1.2 in their handsets that are to go on sale from the latter half of this year.

The production and marketing move comes as tensions are heightening between South Korea and the U.S. over wireless internet software standards. Washington and Qualcomm have been stepping up pressure on Seoul to reconsider its plans to establish a Korean standard for wireless communications.

WIPI is a national standard for mobile Internet developed by South Korea, which enables subscribers to download music and games by accessing the Internet through their mobile handsets.