South Korean telecom operator asked to pay $208 to each complainant over massive data leak

By Berk Kutay Gokmen

ISTANBUL (AA) - A state mediation panel on Tuesday advised South Korea’s top mobile carrier SK Telecom to pay 300,000 won ($208) to each complainant over a massive data leak in April, Yonhap News reported.

The Personal Information Dispute Mediation Committee said that the proposal was agreed on during a plenary session on Monday after a total of 3,998 people filed for mediation of disputes involving SK Telecom.

In April, the company reported a large-scale cyberattack on its main servers, which led to the potential compromise of universal subscriber identity module data of its 23 million subscribers.

In the face of the situation, the company devised a 500 billion won ($346.7 million) customer compensation program that also offered mobile rate cuts and discount coupons starting in August.

The committee noted that the damage amount was calculated in consideration of the distress and disruption caused to subscribers due to the data breach.

The proposal, along with suggestions to create and enforce internal control plans and enhance safety protocols for managing personal data, was forwarded to both the company and the complainants.

Both parties have 15 days to decide whether to accept the proposal; if either party rejects it, the case will be closed without a resolution.

Separately, KT Corp, South Korea's second-largest mobile carrier, announced on Tuesday that it will begin offering free universal subscriber identity module replacements for all customers starting this week, in response to recent unauthorized mobile payment security breaches.

This move follows an incident in August, in which 368 KT users lost a total of 240 million won ($167,000) due to illegal micro base stations, suspected of being used to facilitate unauthorized mobile payments through the company's network.