SK Telecom (SKT) has announced a comprehensive customer compensation plan, fully accepting the government's recommendation to waive penalty fees related to the USIM hacking incident that occurred in April. This measure, totaling 1.2 trillion won, comes the day after President Lee Jae-myung's statement that "victims of hacking should not suffer losses." Through the 'Responsibility and Promise' program, SKT aims to restore customer trust.

Penalty Fee Waivers and Refunds, Re-subscription Benefits Provided 

SKT will fully waive penalty fees for customers who have already terminated their contracts since the hacking incident, as well as for those who terminate by July 14. Penalty fees already paid can also be refunded through an application process. However, device installment payments are not included in the waiver.

Furthermore, customers who re-subscribe to SKT within six months of termination will have their previous subscription period and membership grade restored. Even if there are no plans to re-subscribe within six months, customers who agree in advance can have their previous information restored if they re-subscribe within three years.

Telecom Bill Discounts and Additional Data Provision 

Approximately 24 million customers who are using SKT as of July 15, as well as those using MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators) on the SKT network, will receive a 50% discount on their August telecom bills. Additionally, they will be provided with an extra 50GB of data every month until the end of this year. All these benefits will be applied automatically without a separate application process, although for some limited plans, such as youth plans, selection is possible through a legal guardian. Along with this, T Membership affiliate discounts will also be expanded, sequentially offering 50-60% discounts at major brands. SKT anticipates that approximately 500 billion won will be invested in this customer appreciation package.

Significantly Strengthened Information Protection Measures 

Following this incident, SKT will invest a total of 700 billion won over the next five years in information protection, completely overhauling its security system. This is the largest investment among domestic telecommunication and platform companies. The company will double its specialized personnel and elevate the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) organization directly under the CEO to strengthen responsibility and roles. Furthermore, SKT plans to significantly enhance its cybersecurity governance by recruiting security experts to its board and establishing a Red Team to evaluate and improve the company's security posture.

For customer device protection, the mobile security solution 'Zimperium' will be provided free of charge to all customers for one year. To compensate for USIM cloning damage, a 'Cyber Infringement Compensation Guarantee System' will be introduced, and the cyber insurance limit will be significantly raised from 1 billion won to 100 billion won, establishing a substantial compensation system.

Yoo Young-sang, CEO of SK Telecom, stated, "We prepared this 'Responsibility and Promise' program out of gratitude to our customers who trusted and waited for us, our commitment to taking responsibility for this incident, and our promise to be reborn as a strong security company." He added, "We will do our best to build an information protection system that customers can trust." This measure is understood to have been influenced by strong government recommendations and the direct mention from the President. SKT is expected to restore customer trust through this large-scale compensation and investment plan and make every effort to prevent similar incidents from recurring in the future.

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