THE CRUNCH
South Korea's communications regulator has fined Apple and Google for violating the country's Telecommunications Business Act. Google was hit with a KRW 42.9 billion fine, about $32 million, while Apple must pay KRW 20.81 billion, roughly $15.6 million. Both companies have also been ordered to change their app store practices.
The Korea Media and Communications Commission says it has been investigating the two companies since 2022, through fact-finding inquiries and on-site inspections. Its findings include forcing people to use the companies' own in-app payment methods, charging a 26 percent commission on third-party payments and prohibiting external payments altogether. The regulator also found app reviews delayed without clear reasons and individual inquiries about the delays going unanswered.
One finding applies to Apple alone: it calculated commissions differently for South Korean and overseas developers. For Korean developers its cut was based on purchase prices including VAT, while for developers outside the country it was based on pre-VAT prices. The KMCC is requiring both companies to accept external payments and revise their app review procedures, and Apple must additionally prevent discrimination between domestic and overseas app developers.
Both companies already allow external payments in the US and the European Union, so the Korean order extends a change they have made elsewhere rather than introducing something entirely new for them.