Apple has finally caved to Korea's telecommunication regulator and agreed to allow third-party in-app billing systems in South Korea thus complying with a local law.

The iGiant told The Register :

Apple has a great deal of respect for Korea's laws and a strong history of collaboration with the country's talented app developers. We look forward to working with the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) and our developer community on a solution that benefits our Korean users.

A partial amendment to South Korea's Telecommunications Business Act that [1]passed in September 2021 prevented tech giants with dominant market positions from forcing their own payment options.

[2]Apple wins Epic court ruling: Devs will pay up for now as legal case churns on

[3]Google won't fight South Korea's new app store payment laws requiring third-party payments

[4]There, that wasn't so hard, was it? South Korea makes Google allow rival payment systems in Play store apps

[5]Spotlight on Apple, Google app stores: What happened to Tile, Spotify, Match – and that proposed law in Arizona

[6]Mobile networks really hate Apple's Private Relay: Some folks find iOS privacy feature blocked on their iPhones

The companies most affected by this law were Google and Apple. Google bit the bullet and [7]complied in November. Meanwhile, Apple tried to argue it was already compliant, a strategy that didn't work as well as the company hoped.

In response, KCC started issuing fines up to 2 per cent of revenue to companies that still [8]forced their proprietary in-app payment systems.

Korean news agency Yonhap [9]reported that Apple's compliance plans include a reduced service charge for alternative payment systems. The current charge stands at 30 per cent.

[10]

No details of when the change will occur were given.

[11]

In the rest of the world, both Apple and Google's revenue levy cannot be avoided by developers, with the larger devs typically having to hand over as much as a 30 per cent cut of app and in-app purchases made through the official stores.

The fact that app makers are not allowed to use third-party payments systems if they want to sell in Apple and Google's shops is being contested by competition watchdogs both in the [12]UK and the [13]US – where both federal and state regulators are scrutinising Apple's grip on the App Store.

[14]

KCC also released a document last week regarding improved mobile app subscription service termination processes, saying the government had recommended that mobile apps that provide major subscription services, and specifically Apple, include in-app termination capabilities.

"In consideration of the results of this inspection, KCC is currently pursuing an amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act ('21.9.14) related to in-app payments, and will include mandatory user protection regulations, such as a ban on cancellations for in-app payments by app market operators," [15]said KCC. ®

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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/01/south_korea_anti_google_bill_passed/

[2] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/09/apple_app_commissions/

[3] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/06/google_to_comply_with_south_korean_payment_law/

[4] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/04/google_thirdparty_payments_apps_south_korea/

[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/25/antitrust_app_store_analysis/

[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/11/in_brief_security/

[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/04/google_thirdparty_payments_apps_south_korea/

[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/18/south_korea_app_store_fines/

[9] https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20220111004700320?input=tw

[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Yd8JOJ8gXwfAlrmN4nFXCQAAABA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yd8JOJ8gXwfAlrmN4nFXCQAAABA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[12] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/05/uk_apple_antitrust/

[13] https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/25/antitrust_app_store_analysis/

[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yd8JOJ8gXwfAlrmN4nFXCQAAABA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0

[15] https://kcc.go.kr/user.do?boardId=1113&page=A05030000&dc=K00000200&boardSeq=52437&mode=view

[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/