Google and Apple Fined KRW 63.7 Billion Over In-App Payments, a First Under Korea's 2021 Law
Korea's media and communications regulator fined Google KRW 42.9 billion and Apple KRW 20.81 billion on Oct. 28, KRW 63.71 billion in all. It is the first time the 2021 rule against forcing a payment method on app developers has been enforced.
Developers effectively had two payment options
Google and Apple allowed only their own in-app payment and third-party payment, and barred external payment. Using third-party payment meant a 26% commission, and some features such as subscription management were more limited than with in-app payment.
The commission judged this an abuse of their dominant position that in effect forced developers onto in-app payment.
Review delays went unexplained, and Apple's fee base differed
Both firms were found to have left developers without reasons or timelines when app reviews dragged on, even after developers asked.
From July 2015 to January 2023 Apple took 30% of the price excluding VAT from overseas developers but 30% of the final price including VAT from domestic ones. The commission called that discrimination.
Developers must be able to pay another way
The core order is that developers must be able to offer other payment methods, for example through external links. Third-party fee policy and the app-review process must also change.
Google has to improve its user-experience guidelines for third-party payment; Apple has to drop conditions such as a separate app submission and prevent fee discrimination. Each must file an implementation plan within one month and finish the changes within three.
A decision three years in the making
The commission began on-site inspections in 2022 and pre-announced a fine of up to KRW 68 billion in October 2023. The final vote came about three years later.
Chairman Kim Jong-chul said he hoped the sanction would be a turning point toward a fairer, more open mobile ecosystem, and that the commission would keep watching user-protection issues on platforms.
Sources & context
2026-10-28T08:18:48.680Z
ZDNet Korea on the in-app payment fines ↗DigitalToday on the 63.7 billion won fine ↗Inews24 on the in-app payment fine ↗Wikimedia Commons · Government Complex Gwacheon photo ↗Photo credit
최광모 / Kwangmo (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 4.0A building in the Government Complex Gwacheon, where the commission held its plenary meeting (March 2015; a file photo, not related to this decision). Kwangmo / CC BY-SA 4.0.