Three Years in the Making: Korea’s App Store Fines Put Developers Back in the Driver’s Seat
South Korea was the first country to write a law aimed squarely at app store payment rules, back in 2021. It has taken until now for that law to bite properly. On Wednesday the Korea Media and Communications Commission approved fines totalling 63.7 billion won, roughly 45 million US dollars, against Google and Apple for restricting how app developers can take payments.
Google faces the larger share at 42.9 billion won, with Apple at 20.81 billion won. The regulator found that both companies abused their dominant positions under the Telecommunications Business Act by steering developers towards specific payment methods and attaching unfavourable conditions to third-party options. There will be corrective orders but no criminal complaints.
The money is not the main story
For two companies of this size, the fines are modest. The more consequential part is what the commission ordered them to change. Developers must be allowed to offer alternative payment methods, including external payment links inside their apps. Fees for third-party payment systems must be brought to “reasonable” levels. Google has to revise its user experience guidelines for third-party payments, and Apple must drop its requirement that developers submit a separate version of an app if they want to offer alternative payments.
That last point matters more than it sounds. Maintaining two builds of the same app is expensive and slow, especially for small studios. Removing that hurdle could make alternative payments a realistic choice rather than a theoretical right.
The companies must submit compliance plans within a month of receiving the orders and put the changes in place within three months. If that timetable holds, Korean users could see new payment buttons in some apps early next year.
A long road
The case also shows how slowly these fights move. The regulator first notified Google and Apple of suspected violations in October 2023, so the decision comes about three years later. In the meantime, both companies adjusted their policies in several markets under pressure from regulators in Europe, the United States and elsewhere. Google expressed regret at the ruling, arguing that the commission did not take into account recent changes it made to give developers more payment options and to reduce commission fees, including steps announced in March.
That defence highlights a familiar pattern. Platforms often change their rules just before or during an investigation, then argue that the regulator is punishing yesterday’s behaviour. Regulators reply that the changes came only because of the investigation. Both statements can be true at once.
Why Asia is watching
Korea’s games and webtoon industries live on in-app purchases, which is why Seoul moved first. Japan has since passed its own smartphone competition law, and other governments in the region are studying similar rules. A firm Korean decision with clear deadlines strengthens the case that payment rules can be regulated without breaking the app economy.
The commission’s chairman framed the goal as a cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship between app markets and developers. Whether that happens will depend less on the size of the fines and more on how the new payment options look in practice: how visible the buttons are, how high the remaining fees run, and how many warning screens users must click through. The fine is the headline; the user interface will be the verdict.