[Report] "No More Transportation Subsidies"... The Once-Crowded 'Phone Seongji' Now Deserted

Market Stabilizes After Government Inspections
"Subsidy Frenzy" Ends... S25 Ultra Price Jumps from 410,000 Won to 1,090,000 Won
SKT Subscriber Exodus Temporarily Curbed

On the 6th, the 6th floor of Gangbyeon Techno Mart in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul was visited. This place, known as a "holy ground" for selling phones at low prices by providing illegal subsidies to customers, was quiet despite the holiday. Photo by Park Yujin

"You should have come last week. Back then, if you bought a Galaxy S25, we could give you up to 400,000 won in 'transportation money' (instant cash payout), but now we can barely offer the device for free. Even this level of support could end at any time." On the afternoon of May 6, the last day of the golden holiday, a mobile phone store owner at Gangbyeon Techno Mart in Seoul responded this way to a customer who said, "It's more expensive than I expected."

The mobile phone shopping district, known as a "Seongji" (a place that offers more subsidies than others), was deserted. There were few customers browsing the stores, and only a handful of shops were actively soliciting customers. Han Jiwoo, a 32-year-old SKT subscriber, said, "After the hacking incident, I wanted to leave SKT, and I heard other carriers were offering a lot of subsidies, so I came to check it out. But within a week, prices suddenly shot up," and turned away.

The mobile phone stores at Sindorim Techno Mart were just as empty that day. One store owner said, "Until the end of April, it was a real subsidy frenzy, but now the atmosphere has cooled rapidly. Since there are no subsidies, of course there are no customers," and added, "In just one week, the actual purchase price of the SKT S25 Ultra jumped from 410,000 won to 1,090,000 won."

The main reason for the rapid cooling of the market, which was so hot at the end of April that it was called a "subsidy frenzy," was the government's on-site inspections. After the hacking incident triggered a wave of SKT customer departures, SKT tried to retain its customers, while KT and LG Uplus engaged in an overheated subsidy competition to attract those leaving SKT. Starting May 5, as SKT agencies stopped accepting even new subscribers, the Korea Communications Commission responded to the overheated subsidy competition by conducting on-site inspections throughout the holiday, focusing on collective shopping centers like Techno Mart. Once the crackdown began, not only SKT but also KT and LG Uplus started to reduce their subsidies.

On the 6th, the 6th floor of Gangbyeon Techno Mart in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul was visited. This place, known as a "holy ground" for selling phones at low prices by providing illegal subsidies to customers, was quiet despite the holiday. Photo by Park Yujin

At the Seongji sites, SKT headquarters staff were seen directly inspecting sales situations, indicating that price controls are being tightened in the distribution field. A store owner at Gangbyeon Techno Mart showed a KT policy notification message and said, "Starting from 6 p.m. today, we've been told to reduce the transportation money for the iPhone 16 by 80,000 won per unit. It's a full-scale reduction mode."

This industry trend is also reflected in actual mobile number portability statistics. At the end of April, the number of SKT subscribers leaving exceeded 30,000 per day, but by May 6, it had dropped to 13,050. An industry official said, "As the overheated subsidy war subsides, the large-scale SKT subscriber exodus through number portability seems to have been curbed for now," adding, "From SKT's perspective, it's a temporary relief."