(Image courtesy of Cult of Mac)

On the eve of 17 more countries getting the iPhone 4 this Friday, a controversy appears to be brewing in the one country originally slated for the same launch date where Apple blamed the delay on government approval.

Cult of Mac is reporting that South Koreans are up in arms over being denied the iPhone 4 this week, going so far as calling Apple CEO Steve Jobs a liar by the press. When the iPhone 4 was announced at WWDC last month, South Korea was included on the list of countries slated to receive the handset in late July, but Apple delayed the launch there, citing government approval.

“It’s going to take us a little longer to get government approval [for the iPhone 4 in South Korea],” Jobs announced at the recent “Antennagate” press conference on July 16.

However, it appears that may not be entirely true: The Korean government claims that the iPhone 4 has yet to be submitted for approval to the proper channels there, either by Apple or their local carrier, KT Corp. That statement has created headlines in South Korea, where one local newspaper wrote, “Jobs lied, didn’t he?”

The real issue appears to be one of supply. “We don’t know why it’s been delayed, but one thing is that KT sold the phone very well and now wants to have a better profit from selling iPhone 4,” explains Kim Dong-jun, an analyst with Eugene Securities in Seoul. “Negotiations over sufficient supply must also be going on.”

It would appear that the South Korean press is taking Jobs’ comment too literally, however. The earlier iPhone models were also late to the party in that country and also blamed on lengthy government approval, so it could simply come down to the fact that Apple couldn’t get the handset submitted early enough to get an approval and make the late July timeframe. We’ll all know for sure soon enough.

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