Korea’s media watchdog concluded Wednesday that U.S.-based Google and Apple violated related laws by abusing their dominance in their respective app marketplaces. The level of sanctions will be decided at a later date, the Korea Media Communications Commission (KMCC) said at a regular meeting held in the afternoon. The two U.S. tech companies are accused of bypassing the revision to the telecommunications business act passed in 2021, which aims to prevent large app market operators from forcing app developers to use only their in-app payment systems. Following the revision, Google and Apple had allowed customers to purchase apps through a third-party payment gateway but imposed a transaction fee of around 26 percent on non in-app purchases — a move that drew criticism for effectively nullifying the law. In October 2023, South Korea’s media watchdog had warned it would impose the highest fine possible on the two tech giants but has yet to carry out such a punishment.
