After much delay, the iPhone is finally coming to South Korea. Based on the mobile industry as a whole we expected South Korea to be one of the first to get this handset. The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) had been requiring handsets to use the locally built WIPI mobile platform, but that has changed.

"...considering global industry trends toward the use of general-purpose mobile operating systems, we concluded that there was a need to allow carriers the freedom to decide whether to use WIPI or not,'' said Shin Yong-sub, the director of KCC's policy bureau.

Restrictions such as this have kept many foreign manufacturers, like Apple, from bringing their handsets to South Korea. Carriers KTF and SK Telecom will be testing the iPhone out in South Korea for the next few months. People in South Korea who have been patiently (or impatiently) waiting to get their hands on one will still have to wait because as the rule requiring WIPI will be effective until April of 2009.

[Via MacDailyNews]