The country's telecommunications regulator is considering launching an investigation after Google directed mobile app developers to only use its own in-app payment systems.

According to industry sources, the Google Play Store notified app developers to delete links to external payment systems by April 1.

Google added that non-complying apps will be deleted from the Play Store unless the developers abide by the policy by June 1, following the end of an 18-month grace period enacted when the policy was announced by the tech giant in 2020.

The Korea Communications Commission believes that Google's policy may be in violation of recent legal revisions in South Korea that ban store operators, like Google and Apple, from enforcing such billing policies.