SEOUL, Nov. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – A group of South Korean lawmakers on Thursday called on Google to follow Apple Inc.’s move to lower its commission for app market purchases amid concerns of local app developers over high fees. Apple announced a day earlier it will reduce the standard commission on its App Store from [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — Controversy is flaring up over Google Inc.’s alleged profit-sharing collusion with local mobile carriers and smartphone makers. Rep. Yoon Young-chan of the ruling Democratic Party disclosed in the National Assembly’s parliamentary audit of the Ministry of Science and ICT held on Friday that Google, in collaboration with local mobile [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s tax agency said Saturday it will consider imposing taxes on Google Inc.’s planned enforcement of a 30 percent commission on in-app purchases of digital content from its Play Store next year. In a written answer submitted to Rep. Kim Soo-hong of the ruling Democratic Party, the National [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – The head of South Korea’s fair trade watchdog said Thursday her agency will review one of two ongoing probes into Google Inc.’s market competition violations. Since 2016, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has been investigating Google over allegations that it obstructed local smartphone makers from using operating systems [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea has launched an antitrust investigation into Google over its plans to enforce commission fees for in-app purchases made through its mobile application store, a top official said Thursday. The U.S. tech giant has come under intense scrutiny from South Korean regulators after it updated its global policy [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — Google Inc. faced strong backlash from South Korean developers after it announced Monday (U.S. time) it will enforce its app market’s billing system, which charges a 30 percent fee to all app developers. While Google has taken a 30 percent cut for all in-app purchases on the Play store [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — LG Uplus Corp., a major South Korean mobile carrier, said Sunday it is joining forces with Google to jointly develop 5G mobile edge computing (MEC) technology. Under the partnership, LG Uplus will work with Google Cloud, which will provide its artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, to develop new [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Google has pledged US$500,000 to help expand a coronavirus self-diagnosis website developed by the South Korean military’s Medical Command in cooperation with government and private experts, officials said Friday. The COVID-19 checkup site helps users decide whether to visit hospitals depending on the symptoms they experience, according to the [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s antitrust regulator has launched an investigation into anti-competitive practices of the dominant mobile operating system (OS), its chief said on Wednesday. The remarks by Joh Sung-wook, the chairperson of the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), are seen as a warning against Google’s dominant Android mobile OS, KFTC [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — The Ministry of Science and ICT said Wednesday it will survey local app developers over fees levied by mobile app market platform operators amid concerns surrounding potential changes to Google’s platform payment policy. Google currently requires local game apps on its platform to use its in-app payment system, which [...]