South Korea Android entry card: keep each Play wallet and carrier row separate from the iOS card

This is the Google Play companion to the South Korea iOS first-test card. It turns Google’s listed wallets and carriers into a test matrix; it does not rank those methods by payer preference. Read the companion iOS first-test card for Apple storefront evidence; this Android card does not replace it.

What the official record establishes

Google documents accepted payment methods for South Korea. Documented route examples for this card: KakaoPay, Naver Pay, PAYCO, Toss, KCP bank-account path, named carrier billing (KT, LGU+, SKT), and Play balance. Google’s South Korea payment record also lists American Express, Diners Club, Mastercard, Visa and named local card brands. Methods can change, and the live eligibility notes still apply. Country payment documentation is not proof that your particular game is approved, distributed or purchasable there; confirm distribution and buyer currency in Play Console against the supported-locations record.

For digital goods and in-app features, Play’s payments policy requires Google Play’s billing system unless an enrolled alternative-billing or external-offers programme applies. A first test that has not enrolled in those programmes should observe Play Billing, not an invented off-Play checkout. User-choice or alternative billing eligibility for South Korea is programme-specific; see Google’s user choice billing overview before treating an alternative path as in scope.

Shared Play readiness that can block an update before any country test is useful: target API requirements (new apps and updates must target Android 16 / API 36 from 31 August 2026, with an extension path to 1 November 2026); Play Billing Library 8+ by the same August date; and 16 KB page-size support for apps targeting Android 15+, with unsupported updates blocked from 1 February 2027. These are build checks, not country performance claims.

The first test to run

Use separate observation rows for each selected wallet, the KCP bank-account path and any carrier-billed purchase. Keep labels consistent: method unavailable, purchase cancelled, purchase successful and entitlement missing are different outcomes. Only the final two concern a completed charge, and they need different follow-up evidence.

Localise the observed journey

Review Korean reward descriptions, product names and error recovery in the Play release candidate and on the Play Billing sheet. Ask the reviewer to follow the same purchase script used on the iOS card, then record local wording problems separately from checkout outcomes.

Keep the decision tied to evidence

Use the editable launch checklist and CSV evidence matrix to keep documented availability separate from actual tests. Both include explicit untested states. The country card supplies no CPI, ROAS, payer-share estimate or legal clearance. Local expert review, game-specific distribution checks and real account observations remain outstanding.

Before a paid test, define the campaign identifiers, install cohort, offer event and purchase outcome you intend to reconcile across the ad network, MMP and Play order or voided-purchase signals. Inspect a permitted test transaction end to end, then preserve the raw event references. A successful walkthrough establishes implementation evidence for that case; it cannot establish campaign incrementality or expected acquisition economics.

Background in the existing archive: South Korea: PC-heritage IP and mobile UA and Text-free playable design for global campaigns. These are contextual links, not a certification of every archived claim.

Research checked 19 September 2026. Draft pending human editorial and local-market review. No observed campaign or purchase results are claimed.