South Korea bans Google and Apple in-app payment monopolies

South Korea’s legislators attend a plenary session to proceed with pending bills at the National Assembly in Seoul (Jin Sung-chul/Yonhap via AP)

South Korea’s National Assembly has approved legislation that bans app store operators such as Google and Apple from forcing developers to use their in-app payment systems.

South Korea is reportedly the first country in the world to pass such a bill, which becomes law when it is signed by the president, whose party has backed the legislation.