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Consumer agency urges SKT to pay 100,000 won to each claimant in data breach case

Published: 21 Dec. 2025, 14:20 Updated: 21 Dec. 2025, 16:30

A pedestrian walks by an SK Telecom store in Seoul on Nov. 21. [NEWS1]

The Korea Consumer Agency concluded that telecommunications operator SK Telecom (SKT) should compensate individuals affected by a data breach in April by offering 100,000 won ($68) per claimant.

The decision was made during a mediation conference on Thursday, according to the consumer agency on Sunday. SKT has said that it will “review the details and make a prudent decision.”

“Based on a joint government investigation's findings from July and the Personal Information Protection Commission’s [PIPC] disciplinary actions from August, we confirmed that personal information was leaked because SKT’s systems were hacked,” the agency said. “We recognize SKT’s responsibility to pay for the resulting damages.”

The compensation package includes a 50,000 won discount on telecom bills and 50,000 T Plus Points — store credit that can be used at SKT partner companies.

The decision stems from a complaint filed on May 9 by 58 customers who claimed their data was leaked during a cyberattack on SKT’s home subscriber server.

If SKT accepts the Korea Consumer Agency’s ruling, the company would also need to submit a plan to compensate customers who did not participate in the mediation. Given that approximately 23 million individuals are estimated to have been affected by the breach, the company may have to pay as much as 2.3 trillion won.

The SK Telecom logo is seen at a retail branch in Seoul on Aug. 27. [YONHAP]

Once the Korea Consumer Agency officially notifies SKT of the mediation ruling, the company will have 15 days to notify the agency of its decision.

Concerns are reportedly growing within SKT regarding the financial burden that such a large-scale payout would entail. SKT has already spent over 1 trillion won to compensate victims of the breach and to upgrade their cybersecurity, and it was also fined 134.8 billion won by the PIPC.

The company has until mid-January to file a legal challenge against the fine.

SKT previously rejected a separate proposal by the PIPC’s own mediation panel, in which each person affected by the breach would have received 300,000 won. SKT additionally declined to comply with a decision by the Korea Media and Communications Commission’s dispute mediation board, which ordered SKT to extend the deadline for its penalty fee waivers and offer partial compensation to users subscribed to bundled services, such as wired internet.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM JI-HYE [[email protected]]