Expats get away with unpaid phone bills

By Jung Min-ho

A loophole in the charging systems of Korean telecom companies is allowing foreigners to get away with leaving the country without paying their phone bills here.

An American, who taught English in Korea for three years, left the country early this month without paying her last month’s phone bill ― just like many of her friends have done.

According to two of the three major telecom companies ― LG Uplus and KT ― they don’t give penalties against those who leave Korea without paying their bills and many foreigners take advantage of their inaction. SK Telecom did not respond to inquiries from The Korea Times.

“There are many foreigners who have returned to their countries without paying their bills,” an LG Uplus official said, refusing to reveal details. The situation isn’t much different for KT.

Companies, in theory, can report such cases to police, but they rarely do so, a KT official said. One of the reasons is that legal action would cost them more than the bills themselves.

The only thing the companies do in such situations is to share data of such customers through the Korea Association for ICT Promotion (KAIT) to have them pay if they return.

“If a person did not pay his bill to one company here, he cannot use services from other companies,” a KAIT official said. “But once the person takes care of the unpaid balance, he can start using his phone right away. Yes, it would be considered a contract violation, but violators do not pay extra fees or receive any form of penalty.”

Many foreigners already know about this.

“Only a few people I know paid what they were supposed to pay before they left Korea,” said an English teacher, declining to be named. “I think such actions are very irresponsible, which could create distrust of all foreigners, including those who are innocent.”

People share “tips” about what to do with the phone bills coming after their departure via websites and online communities.

“You won’t need to pay that,” one foreigner responded to a question about the upcoming bill.

“If they make you pay, just pay and get it over with. Nothing much will happen anyway,” said another.

Some foreigners urge people to “be responsible and pay up,” but at this point, it is entirely up to their conscience.

Some Koreans believe there should be more strict regulations to hold foreigners responsible for the money they are supposed to pay off before they leave. In fact, many employers who hire foreigners here, such as English “hagwon” owners, also complain about the utility fees and other expenses left unpaid by their former non-Korean employees who have already left the country. With an increasing number of foreigners living and working here, such issues are expected to increase.