Korea's media regulator says the two companies steered developers to their own payment systems and delayed app reviews, and orders changes within three months.
South Korea's Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC) on Wednesday ordered Google and Apple to pay a combined 63.7 billion won (about €42.7 million), according to Euronews. Google was fined 42.9 billion won and Apple 20.8 billion won after an investigation that began in August 2022. The regulator found that both companies broke a 2021 law, the first of its kind in the world, that bars app store operators from forcing developers onto a specific payment system.
The commission said that, on paper, developers could offer other payment methods inside their apps, but the companies charged a 26% commission on those payments, only slightly below the 30% on their own systems, and withheld some features, leaving developers little real choice. Payments through external websites were blocked altogether. The regulator also found that app reviews were delayed without clear explanations or restart dates, and that Apple charged Korean developers more than developers elsewhere between 2015 and January 2023 by calculating commission on prices that included value-added tax.
Both companies must let Korean developers place links to outside payment options in their apps and improve their review processes, submitting plans within one month and completing changes within three months. Commission chair Kim Jong-cheol said Korean law would apply equally to domestic and foreign firms. Google and Apple had not publicly responded at the time of the report. The case echoes European Union action under the Digital Markets Act, where Apple was fined €500 million in April 2025 and Google €890 million in July; both companies have appealed those penalties.
