Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
SK Telecom rejects arbitration recommending W100,000 compensation per customer
People walk past an SK Telecom store in Seoul, Dec. 21, 2025. Yonhap
By Nam Hyun-woo
SK Telecom, whose massive data breach last year exposed the personal information of 23 million subscribers, rejected a public agency’s arbitration recommending compensation of 100,000 won ($69.40) per customer.
The telecoms operator said in a statement that it had “thoroughly reviewed” the Korea Consumer Agency’s decision but decided to reject the arbitration because it had already “implemented its own compensation plans and security measures” and because “accepting the arbitration proposal may cause significant impacts.”
In December, the Korea Consumer Agency’s Consumer Dispute Settlement Commission issued an arbitration decision after 58 SK Telecom users filed complaints over the data breach in April. The commission proposed that SK Telecom compensate all of its subscribers with a 50,000 won discount on their mobile bills, along with 50,000 membership points that can be used at partner companies.
If SK Telecom accepted the arbitration, the total compensation it would owe is estimated at around 2.3 trillion won ($1.6 billion).
With SK Telecom rejecting the arbitration, the case is now closed at the consumer agency. Subscribers seeking compensation would need to file separate civil lawsuits in court.
“We hope [customers] understand the difficulties of accepting the arbitration, and we will continue making efforts to regain customer trust and prevent additional damage,” SK Telecom said.
SK Telecom filed a separate administrative lawsuit earlier this month in an appeal to a 134.8 billion won fine imposed by the Personal Information Protection Commission in August.