24.11 Million Enrolled in 'USIM Protection', Roaming Customers to Be Covered from May 14
Penalty Fee Waiver Issue to Be Decided After Board Discussion
SK Telecom announced on May 7 that it plans to resume new subscriber registrations, which had been temporarily suspended to address the USIM (Universal Subscriber Identity Module) shortage caused by a hacking incident, as soon as USIM inventory is secured. This measure is intended to minimize customer inconvenience resulting from the lack of USIM replacement units and to reduce the losses suffered by retail stores due to the suspension of new business operations.
Lim Bongho, Head of SKT’s MNO Business Division, stated during a daily briefing held at SKT’s headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the same day, “The purpose of suspending new business was to focus available USIMs on replacements rather than new subscriptions during this shortage.” He added, “Once we have completed full enrollment in the USIM Protection Service, improved self-activation for eSIM, and secured sufficient USIM inventory, we will comprehensively review the situation and lift the suspension on new business.” He further explained, “We will minimize the suspension period as much as possible to reduce losses for retail stores, and we are also preparing support measures for them.” Since May 5, SKT has suspended new subscriber registrations at over 2,600 T World stores and has focused on USIM replacements and customer care.
Kim Heesub, Head of SKT’s PR Center, provided an update on the USIM replacement situation, stating, “So far, approximately 1.07 million customers have replaced their USIMs, and there are about 100,000 customers with reservations.” He apologized, saying, “We regret that many customers have not been able to replace their USIMs due to supply shortages this week,” and promised, “From next week, supply will begin to improve, and by the end of the month, we will secure 5 million USIMs, with an additional 5 million to be secured in June, enabling us to replace USIMs for reserved customers in sequence.”
Regarding customer protection measures, he explained, “Currently, all 24.11 million eligible customers, including those using budget mobile services, have completed enrollment in the USIM Protection Service.” The approximately 1 million customers who have not enrolled are overseas roaming users, and their automatic enrollment was deferred due to restrictions on simultaneous use of the USIM Protection Service and roaming. SKT is preparing to automatically upgrade the service so that roaming users can also use the USIM Protection Service starting around May 14. Until then, preliminary protection is being provided through the network’s Fraud Detection System (FDS). Kim emphasized, “There have been no reported or confirmed cases of damage caused by illegal USIM cloning in the past two weeks.”
Regarding the controversial issue of penalty fees, he said, “The review is taking time as we are comprehensively considering legal aspects, issues at business sites, fairness among customers, and financial impact. The matter is under discussion by the SKT board of directors, and we will provide further information once a policy is determined.”
Ryu Junghwan, Executive Vice President in charge of technology, stated, “We are now in the third week since the incident, but there have been no secondary incidents.” He added, “We will continue to enhance the network and protect customer safety by recalling suspicious equipment, elevating FDS monitoring to the highest level, and upgrading spam and smishing blocking systems.” He also mentioned that from the middle of next week, the USIM Protection Service will be available overseas, and the information entry process for eSIM self-activation, which had been inconvenient, will be improved next week to enhance user convenience.
Regarding the “Information Security Innovation Committee” mentioned by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won at the beginning of the briefing, Kim explained, “The committee will be established under the SUPEX Council and will include external experts. The full capabilities of the group’s ICT affiliates, such as SK C&C and SK hynix, will be mobilized.”
He also stated that investments in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector will continue as planned, while apologizing for the decline in stock price and the resulting damage to shareholder value caused by the hacking incident. He added, “There will be no sudden changes to our AI investment plans, but for now, our top priority is customer protection.”
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