Mark Lee appointed new head of sales and president of Apple Korea

Mark Lee, former country president of Applied Materials Korea, has been appointed as the new head of sales and president of Apple Korea, the tech company said Tuesday. [YONHAP]

Mark Lee, the former country president of Applied Materials Korea, has been appointed as the new head of sales and president of Apple Korea, the tech company said Tuesday.

Lee joined Apple Korea mid-October, after the vacancy was left open for a year, following former general manager Brandon Yoon's resignation last November.

Lee is a Korean-American who served as a Lieutenant of the United States Navy from 1995 to 2000 and began his career in business as the key account technologist at Novellus Systems, a semiconductor equipment manufacturer, in 2000.

He joined Applied Materials Korea in 2003 and served as the regional general manager from 2020 until this year.

Lee is facing issues surrounding Apple Korea’s in-app payment policy that have been ongoing since last year.

Apple has been under the scrutiny of the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) for imposing and raising in-app payment commission for app developers, along with Google.

Apple said on Sept. 19 that it will bring up the price tiers of apps and in-app purchases in some parts of the world including Korea, Japan and nations that use euros. The company did not give a reason, but a Bloomberg report cited that “the strong dollar may be a key driver.”

The FTC conducted an on-site inspection of Apple Korea’s offices regarding the issue last September.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]