Fair Trade Commission Launches Investigation into Unfair In-App Payment Fees... Apple Korea "Will Cooperate Fully with Investigation"

VPN applications have been removed from the Chinese app store.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seung-jin] Apple Korea, which is under investigation by the Fair Trade Commission over allegations of excessive in-app payment fees, stated that it will "cooperate fully with the investigation."

On the 27th, Apple Korea explained, "Apple is cooperating fully with the Fair Trade Commission's investigation and hopes to explain that the App Store provides many business opportunities to Korean developers."

The Fair Trade Commission sent investigators to Apple Korea's office in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, the previous day to conduct an on-site investigation.

Earlier, the Mobile Game Association reported to the Fair Trade Commission that Apple had unfairly calculated in-app payment fees, collecting about 350 billion KRW more from developers.

The association claims that while the in-app payment fee rate Apple should collect from developers is 30%, Apple counted the sales amount by adding a 10% VAT to the supply price, effectively taking 33%.

For example, when the supply price is 3,000 KRW, Google Play Store takes a 30% fee (900 KRW) from 3,000 KRW. However, Apple charges a 30% fee (990 KRW) on 3,300 KRW, which includes a 10% VAT on the supply price.

According to the association's statistics, based on the amount of paid services totaling 11.6 trillion KRW processed through the App Store from 2015 to 2020, the estimated damage amounted to 345 billion KRW.

In-app payment refers to the use of a payment system created by the app market operator when an app registered in the Apple or Google app market sells paid services.