Apple’s California headquarters is unlikely to pick a new general manager for Apple Korea for the time being amid reports that Apple Japan’s operating executive will be leading Korean operations.

Industry sources said that Colin Greene, senior director of operations of Apple Japan, will be overseeing Apple Korea, and that this proxy system may continue indefinitely.

Greene reports to the Cupertino headquarters of Apple, as is the case for most operation executives at regional offices.

Apple Korea executives are known to have little say over Apple products. This is reflected in the fact that Apple Korea doesn’t have direct marketing authority over any of the top Apple gadgets, such as the iPhone or the iPad.

The Macbook lineup is about the only item that Apple Korea oversees in terms of marketing, the sources said.

Also, from the beginning, Apple Korea has operated as an organization that serves only as a sales outlet, which is why there is no official country manager. The previous head of Apple had held the title of “general manager.”

In recent years, Apple Korea, with some 80 plus employees, had appeared to be growing in both size and scale, with the company actively inviting top people from within the local IT industry to join the workforce.

But last year, the company expansion met a sudden obstacle with the abrupt ouster of Dominique Oh, Apple Korea’s former general manager. The reason is still unclear.

Rumors have said that Oh was forced to take responsibility for the faltering sales of the iPhone 4S, which suffered following reports at the time of the coming of the iPhone 5.

Others say that it was unlikely for a company like Apple, which prides itself for being “reasonable,” and that there was another reason that neither the company nor Oh could come out and say.

Whatever the cause was, Oh is out of the picture and Apple’s headquarters have yet to say the word on whether it will be appointing a new manager.

Apple Korea was established in 1998. In 2009, the company was catapulted to renewed fame after launching the iPhone a couple years after it was revealed by Apple Inc. The iPhones are cited by many as late Apple founder Steve Jobs’ best creation, as it permanently altered the global mobile phone landscape.

By Kim Ji-hyun (jemmie@heraldcorp.com)