iLounge

By Charles Starrett

Senior Editor, iLounge
Published: Wednesday, November 18, 2009
News Category: iPhone

The Korea Communications Commission, South Korea’s telecommunications regulator, gave the iPhone its approval at a meeting this week, meaning the phone can now be launched at any time in the country. Strangely, this is the second time the device has been granted approval by the commission; the first was in September. Although commission spokesman Lee Sang-hun could not immediately confirm how this new decision different from September’s, he did say it was related to location-based services. South Korean law requires companies providing location-based data to obtain government permission, and in September’s decision, the commission decided that local service providers could obtain permission on Apple’s behalf.

KT and SK Telecom, local network providers in South Korea, have both been in discussions with Apple over the iPhone; Apple spokesman Steve Park told the Associated Press that the company has yet to confirm whether it will introduce the iPhone to South Korea. Still, South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo has reported that KT—which confirmed plans to sell the iPhone in August—plans to begin taking online orders for the device on Thursday with a launch date of November 28, while a SK Telecom spokeswoman said the carrier has made no decisions regarding the device. Apple has yet to add South Korea to its list of countries to which the iPhone is “coming soon.”