"Card Payments Not Working"... Citizens Frustrated by KT Wired and Wireless Communication Outage

POS terminals and ATMs for electronic payments go down
KT "Accurately identifying the cause"
Police plan detailed investigation into the incident

KT's wired and wireless internet networks experienced an outage starting around 11:15 AM on the 25th, causing related services to go down. The photo shows KT mobile and PC screens disconnected that morning. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] "Suddenly, card payments are not working.", "I don't have any cash either, what should I do?"

On the morning of the 25th, KT's wired and wireless communication networks suddenly went down. As a result, payment services at restaurants and convenience stores using KT internet were suspended, and even ATMs stopped functioning, causing inconvenience to citizens. Regarding this incident, KT stated, "We are currently investigating the cause" and are making every effort to restore the network to normal.

KT said, "We have immediately activated the Crisis Management Committee and are taking swift action," adding, "We will do our best for a quick recovery."

The network outage lasted for about an hour starting around 11:15 a.m., affecting individuals as well as businesses and financial institutions to varying degrees.

People using the KT network experienced internet disruptions due to the communication failure. Especially, restaurants, stores, and convenience stores using electronic payment POS devices suddenly had card payments halted, causing confusion among many citizens.

A store owner operating a convenience store in the metropolitan area said, "The POS machine suddenly stopped working about 10 minutes ago. I checked and heard that another store downstairs also had their machines go dead. I don't know what happened," adding, "Customers without cash were panicking and asking what to do, but we were also at a loss."

Customers also expressed dissatisfaction. One citizen who gave up buying items at a convenience store because card payments were not working said, "Who carries cash these days?" and added, "I tried to withdraw even 10,000 won from the ATM, but it was down too. I was shocked because there was nowhere to use money at all."

Due to a KT internet network communication failure, the information on the bus arrival notification electronic board in downtown Gwangju was interrupted. / Photo by Yonhap News

Online, netizens who suffered from the sudden internet outage also voiced their complaints.

One netizen said, "I thought it wouldn't affect me since my home doesn't use KT internet, but the apartment doorbell system uses KT lines and went dead," adding, "I never imagined communication problems could have such a big impact on daily life."

Another netizen expressed frustration, saying, "I was working from home, but the internet went down, so I had to visit five nearby cafes."

In addition, there were reports of errors accessing securities firms' Mobile Trading Systems (MTS) and interruptions in online classes conducted by students, causing ongoing confusion.

The cause of the KT network failure has not yet been identified. Some speculated that KT might have been subjected to a large-scale Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, but the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) under the Ministry of Science and ICT stated that "there has been no confirmation of a DDoS related to the internet outage, nor have any reports been received."

The Cyber Crime Investigation Unit of the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency dispatched personnel to KT headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, to investigate the specific circumstances of the incident and whether there was an attack on the communication network.

Meanwhile, this is not the first time KT's wired and wireless internet services have been paralyzed. In 2018, a fire at the KT Ahyeon station in Seoul caused a large-scale communication outage in areas including Jung-gu, Yongsan-gu, and Seodaemun-gu. At that time, credit card payments stopped working at restaurants and stores, causing inconvenience to self-employed business owners.

Afterward, KT provided support measures such as waiving one month's communication fees for internet service customers in the areas affected by the fire-related communication outage.