Korea Opens Antitrust Investigation Into Apple App Store and Google Play Store

Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT says it will look into allegations that the Apple App Store and Google Play Store are violating local antitrust laws, reports The Korea Herald.

Local app developers and businesses earlier this month asked the government to look into their in-app payment systems and see if the US tech giants are violating local laws that prohibit telecommunications service operators from obstructing users in choosing services. Local developers argued that the platform operators are using their market clout to charge high commissions to local developers.

The ministry plans to collect opinions from developers and market sources to see if high commissions are unfairly weighing on local operators.


“(The ministry) will carefully monitor and prepare policies that can cope with the increasing influence of platform providers,” the ministry said. “The ministry will also mediate between developers and platform operators to secure user rights.”

This follows an EU investigation in Apple over antitrust concerns and a major lawsuit brought against the company by Epic Games.

More details in the full report linked below...

Read More