hate to nitpick, but yes, the policy was enacted in 2005 and withdrawn in late 2008 (with 3 month grace period), or almost a full decade ago, just a year after Apple got into the mobile business and when their global iPhone sales barely numbered in just a few million units.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2012/04/133_35873.html.
Secondly, are you saying that KFCC's requirements were unusual and more onerous than the one required by US FCC which still requires rigorous testings of various radio, safety (SAR), HAC components, in addition to "schematics" and other confidential trade-secrets, to this date?
Even if we assume both specious premises to be true, you clearly indicate that those barriers were eliminated/relaxed before Apple iPhone was introduced there -- when Apple had limited availability of iPhones in just a small number of countries (and even in the US, only AT&T carried it) and, again, its sales totaled in just a few millions. So how does that amount to the Korean gov't deterring Apple's entry into the market? that without doubt? Something doesn't add up...
To be clear, I don't think they were put up to target Apple specifically, but the regulations had to be amended in order for cellphones not targeted specifically for Korean market to enter and I'm stating that it had a role in delaying iPhone's availability in Korea. WIPI's role as a barrier has been noted in news articles like the one you linked. The early 2009 timeframe I mentioned referred to the point when it was completely withdrawn, after the grace period. There's nothing to nitpick about it. We're on the same page with this.
The second point was more about the personal-level importing of the iPhones and other foreign phones, so I concede that it may not have had a major role in deterring
official introduction, but it certainly prevented people from using it even
unofficially.
The thing is, does US FCC prevent you from importing a cellphone (one unit, personal use) not officially available in the US unless you submit full device details and go through full suite of testing? That is not the case, as far as I know. Those things are generally waivered for such cases. Back then, users were forced to go through full testing for cellphones in order for it to be used with a Korean carrier, even if it's just one unit you brought in for personal use. Doesn't that sound ridiculous? Because it was. The absurdity is only enforced by the fact that this rule didn't apply to foreigners bringing their cellphones during their visits to Korea and using them on a local carrier in
roaming mode. It's not like using a phone in roaming mode is magically different electromagnetically.
The regulations being relaxed near the official introduction of iPhones in Korea wasn't a coincidence. With the release of iPhone and subsequently, Android phones, many Korean people were eager to try them, but the aforementioned regulations prevented official (WIPI) or unofficial (testing mandate) importation. People complained and voiced their dissatisfaction to the government, and pressured for the changes. This was pretty well noted in the article you linked.
You keep mentioning that there were only "a few million" in sales, but back then the comparison was made with other smartphones and so-called PDA phones, which had a smaller market. Once iPhone did launch in Korea, it immediately overtook Samsung's WM-based smartphones in sales (this happened in the first month with one hundred thousand units, and this was considered massive back then) and iPhone dominated the Korean smartphone market until Samsung got their act together eventually and countered with the Galaxy S.
This shows there were a lot of demand that was unfulfilled due to the regulations that delayed the introduction. iPhone sales in Korea reached 1 million in 10 months of its initial release. Smartphones sold in Korea amounted in the order of tens of thousands to low hundred thousands in the years before. If anything, it confirmed the fear that the lack of those barriers could let foreign companies bulldoze into the Korean market.
Let's check the article you linked:
The decision will bring an end to the dreadful wait by Korean gadget lovers of iPhone, Apple's latest product to create a global craze, with wireless carriers KTF and SK Telecom allowed to release the handsets next spring.
In other words, iPhones would not have been eligible for release in the Korean market unless the regulations were relaxed. It even says "dreadful wait" right there. If that's not "the Korean gov't deterring Apple's entry into the market", what is?