South Korea Fines Apple and Google 63.7 Billion Won: What Changes
South Korea fined Apple and Google a combined 63.7 billion won over app store payment rules, ordering external payment links within three months. What changes.
Illustration: Greg Toope
In this article
What the regulator actually decided
South Korea's Media and Communications Commission approved fines of 42.9 billion won against Google and 20.81 billion won against Apple, a combined 63.7 billion won. The commission itself described that total as roughly 45 million US dollars; wire coverage of the same decision converted it at about 47.6 million US dollars, so treat the dollar figure as approximate and the won figure as the official one. The regulator said both companies violated the Telecommunications Business Act by forcing app developers onto specific payment methods and by imposing unfavourable conditions on third-party payment options. The fines came with corrective orders but no criminal complaints, which matters: this is a compliance problem for both companies, not a legal one.
The three specific things Apple has to change
The corrective orders are narrow and practical. Both companies must let developers offer alternative payment methods, including external payment links inside apps, and must adjust the fees they charge for third-party payment systems to reasonable levels. Google was separately ordered to revise its user experience guidelines for third-party payments. Apple was ordered to scrap its requirement that developers submit a separate app when they want to offer alternative payment options. That last item is the one to watch, because it is the kind of friction that quietly kills a feature: a developer will not build a second app just to route payments outside the store. Remove that requirement and the alternative path becomes realistic for small teams.
The timeline is what makes it sting
The commission first notified Google and Apple of the alleged violations in October 2023. The decision landed on October 28, 2026, roughly three years later. Both companies must submit compliance plans within one month of receiving the corrective orders, and implement the required changes within three months. Google responded publicly with regret, arguing the commission had not accounted for policy changes announced in March that would allow external payment options and lower service fees. That argument did not move the regulator, which is a signal in itself: announcing a policy change is not the same as complying with an existing law, and regulators in other jurisdictions are watching how that distinction holds up.
Why South Korea keeps leading on this
South Korea passed the amendment to its Telecommunications Business Act in 2021, the first major law anywhere to stop app store operators from requiring their own in-app payment systems. The law took effect in late 2021 and the enforcement that followed has been slow, contested and technical, which is exactly what makes this week's decision significant. A fine alone would be a rounding error for Apple and Google. A corrective order with a three-month deadline and a compliance plan requirement is the part with teeth, because it creates a documented obligation that the regulator can check. Chairman Kim Jong-cheol framed the goal in terms of a fair and sustainable app market ecosystem built on cooperation between store operators and developers.
What this means for Canada
Canada has no equivalent law. There is no Canadian statute forcing Apple or Google to accept external payment links, and the Competition Bureau's market study work has not produced one. That means the practical effects, cheaper subscriptions bought outside the store, and developers keeping more of each dollar, will reach Canadian users later and probably unevenly, depending on what developers choose to offer. Our earlier look at how EU app rules could change iPhone app prices covers the same question for Europe, where the Digital Markets Act forced real changes to fee structures. Canada sits outside both regimes. If you want a concrete example of what a difference this makes, compare the same subscription in the Canadian App Store and on the developer's own website: the direct price is usually lower because there is no store commission baked in.
What actually changes inside the apps
Strip away the legal language and here is what a developer can now do in South Korea that they could not do cleanly before: put a link in their app that sends a paying customer to a checkout page outside the store, and charge a fee for that third-party payment route that the regulator considers reasonable. For a reader, that means the sort of friction you have hit before, where a subscription page inside an app mysteriously omits the cheaper annual plan, should start to disappear in Korean builds. It also means Korean prices may diverge from Canadian and US prices on the same app, which is already common for tax reasons and will now be common for commission reasons too.
Why the fine amount is almost beside the point
Apple and Google each report quarterly revenue measured in tens of billions of dollars, so a 20.81 billion won fine for Apple is not going to change a boardroom decision. What changes behaviour is the compliance clock. A one-month deadline to file a plan and a three-month deadline to implement it creates a written record, and regulators in the EU, Japan, the UK and elsewhere can point at that record when they draft or enforce their own rules. This is how app store regulation has actually progressed since 2021: one jurisdiction sets a precedent, the next one cites it, and the store terms quietly loosen everywhere as the cost of maintaining separate rules rises.
The bigger picture for your phone bill
Apple and Google are both under pressure in multiple markets at once, and the direction of travel is consistent: the store commission is being chipped away by regulation rather than by competition. For readers, the useful takeaway is not the fine amount. It is that the alternative payment path is slowly becoming real, and that means checking the developer's own site before subscribing to anything through an app. I have saved real money doing exactly that on creative software, where the direct annual price often undercuts the in-app monthly by a wide margin. Watch for external payment links appearing in apps you already use over the next few months, and expect the fees to be the last thing to move.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much were Apple and Google fined in South Korea?
A combined 63.7 billion won: 42.9 billion won for Google and 20.81 billion won for Apple. That is roughly 45 to 48 million US dollars depending on the exchange rate used.
What must Apple change?
Apple must allow alternative payment methods including external links, set reasonable fees for third-party payments, and stop requiring developers to submit separate apps in order to offer alternative payment options.
Do these rules apply in Canada?
No. Canada has no law forcing app stores to accept external payment links, so the changes apply to the South Korean market. EU rules under the Digital Markets Act are separate.