Apple Pay is up and running in Korea

An Apple Pay sticker is shown on a counter at a diner in Seoul on Monday. [YONHAP]

Apple Pay was made available to users in Korea from Tuesday, years after rumors of its entrance into the local market first began circulating.

“Apple Pay is available from today in South Korea,” said Duncan Olby, who oversees Apple Pay internationally, at a press conference held in central Seoul on Tuesday. Apple Pay is available on Apple devices including the iPhone and Apple Watch.

Apple Pay, rolled out in partnership with Hyundai Card, is available at stores that support near-field communication (NFC).

The payment service is available at retailers including CU and GS25 convenience stores, Lotte Department Store and Homeplus, Olby said.

The possibility of Apple Pay's launch in Korea was first mentioned in the local press in 2015. In September last year, a Korean iPhone user leaked on Naver what appeared to be the terms and conditions for the use of Apple Pay in Korea.

The service's launch was officially announced when the Financial Supervisory Service admitted in November it was looking over the terms and conditions of Apple Pay.

Some 170,000 people had already subscribed to the service as of Tuesday morning.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]