Apple Signals To Comply With South Korea's Anti-Google Law

Apple will allow third-party payments in the app store. (photo: doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA - South Korea's telecommunications regulator said on Tuesday, January 11 that Apple Inc. has submitted a plan to allow third-party payment systems in the App Store to comply with a law that prohibits operators of large app stores from forcing software developers to use Apple's payment system.

The Korean Communications Commission (KCC) has asked Apple and Alphabet's Google to submit their plans for compliance with a South Korean court ruling after the bill was passed in August last year and went into effect in September.

Google announced its plans to allow alternative payment systems in South Korea in November to comply with the amended South Korean Telecommunications Business Act. The law was even dubbed the "anti-Google law".

I hope Apple’s move here isn’t another fake opening of payment systems as Google recently announced. Payment processors charge fees for payments they process. It’s outrageous for a platform monopoly to charge fees for transactions they have nothing to do with. We’ll see! https://t.co/Aw6clSd0EO

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) January 11, 2022

"We look forward to working with KCC and our developer community on solutions that benefit our Korean users", Apple said in a statement quoted by Reuters. Apple, however, did not provide details such as when or when the new payment system would take effect or the commission fee rates to apply.

Apple plans to discuss further details with the KCC, regulators in Korea said. KCC said Apple plans to allow alternative payment systems with lower service fees than the current 30% commission.

In the United States, the iPhone maker is also wading into a lawsuit filed by "Fortnite" creator, Epic Games, in 2020 when the game maker tried to get around Apple's 30% fee for in-app purchases by launching Epic Games' own in-app payment system.

A US judge last year ordered Apple to change its App Store rules, which have long banned app developers from inserting links on buttons to outside payment systems instead of using Apple's own.

"I hope Apple's move here (in South Korea) is no longer the fake opening of the payment system as Google announced recently", Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said in a tweet.

Apple said it has paid developers a total of $260 billion (IDR 3.7 quadrillion) through the App Store since its launch in 2008. They also imply the payment of $60 billion (IDR 858 trillion) to developers in 2021.