Apple Chief Should Consider Korean Customers

Apple CEO Steve Jobs said the reason why Korea is not among the countries where the iPhone4 is to be released at the end of July is that there has been a delay in government approval. iPhone fans in Korea will have to wait. The fads gadget will be unveiled in 17 countries including Australia, Canada, Italy, Singapore and Hong Kong, but not in Korea, and according to Jobs the Korean government is at fault.

But as it turns out, Apple did not even apply for approval. The Korea Communications Commission, which gives the green light to sales of electronic communications devices, issued a quick response denying responsibility, saying the Radio Research Agency has yet to receive an application to test the electromagnetic frequency levels of the iPhone 4.

KT, the distributor, appears to have been caught off guard. On its website it published the full text of Apple's response to its queries in which the company admits that a delay in its preparation is behind the two-month postponement.

In other words, Apple, not the Korean government, is to blame. Three Koreans have already brought the iPhone 4 into Korea and got the go-ahead to use it, and dealers are taking advance orders. Apple says it puts its customers first, but fans of the product in Korea are apparently not on that list.

When asked in a press conference on Friday about the embarrassing reception glitches the phone is liable to, Jobs complained of an American press campaign against his company. "Would you rather that we were a Korean company, instead of an American company?" he asked. Perhaps he should explain to his customers here how exactly he feels about Korea.

By Jung Sun-mi from the Chosun Ilbo's News Desk