South Korea fines Apple and Google over app store violations

South Korea's communications regulator has found that Apple and Google violated the country's Telecommunications Business Act, fining both companies and ordering changes to how their app stores operate. Google must pay KRW 42.9 billion (about $32 million), while Apple faces a penalty of KRW 20.81 billion ($15.6 million).

According to the Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC), it has carried out fact-finding investigations and on-site inspections of the two companies since 2022. The agency concluded that they broke rules governing the app market, including forcing users onto their own in-app payment systems, charging a 26 percent commission on third-party payments and prohibiting external payments.

Review delays and unequal commissions

The regulator also said the companies delayed app reviews without giving a clear reason and failed to answer individual developer inquiries about those delays. In Apple's case, the KMCC found an additional problem: the company calculated its commission differently for Korean and overseas developers. For Korean developers, Apple based its cut on the purchase price including VAT, while for developers from outside the country it used the price before VAT.

What the companies must change

The KMCC is requiring both companies to accept external payments and to revise their app review procedures. Apple must also prevent what the regulator calls "discrimination between domestic and overseas app developers."

The ruling matters for developers, who have long argued that mandatory in-app billing and high commissions raise costs for them and for consumers. Both companies already allow external payments in the United States and the European Union, so the order brings South Korea closer to those markets.

The KMCC's findings put the practices of the two dominant mobile platforms under fresh scrutiny in one of Asia's most closely watched app markets.