South Korea has fined Google and Apple a combined 63.7 billion won ($47.6 million) for allegedly abusing their dominance in app store markets by pressuring local developers to use their payment systems and unfairly delaying app reviews.
The Korea Media and Communications Commission, the country's media and telecommunications regulator, announced the penalties on Wednesday following a years-long investigation into whether the two US tech giants violated a 2021 law banning app store operators from requiring developers to use specific payment systems.
Google was fined 42.9 billion won ($32 million), while Apple was fined 20.8 billion won ($15.5 million). The regulator also ordered both companies to allow South Korean developers to use external payment links in their apps and improve their app review procedures.
Neither company immediately responded to requests for comment.
The commission said the companies steered developers towards their own in-app payment systems while restricting payments through external websites. Although both technically permitted third-party payment options within apps, they charged developers a 26 percent commission and withheld some features available through their own systems, effectively pressuring developers to use their payment services, it said.
The regulator also found cases in which the companies delayed app reviews without clearly explaining the reasons or indicating when the reviews would resume.
Apple was additionally accused of charging South Korean developers higher commissions than those imposed on developers in other countries from 2015 through January 2023.
South Korea has long scrutinised the business practices of foreign technology companies operating in its market. In 2021, it became the first country to enforce a law prohibiting app market operators such as Google and Apple from requiring users to use their own in-app payment systems.