[lsc36]

Exactly the same in Japan; moreover, many e-commerce sites reject foreign credit cards, even those of international brands (Visa/MasterCard).

What I heard was that payment providers charge higher fees for allowing foreign cards, so website owners (who focus on domestic business anyways) just won't bother.

[KVFinn]

>What I heard was that payment providers charge higher fees for allowing foreign cards, so website owners (who focus on domestic business anyways) just won't bother.

Here at least that doesn't seem to be the blocking issue. Or at least I often see foreign CC payment options in the list, but if you try to use the option you still need a Korean phone number in the checkout process (and they confirm with an SMS, you can't just type in whatever.)