Ministry of Science and ICT to Review Telecom Security Systems and Establish Measures to Prevent Hacking Recurrence

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Safe Transaction System for Used Mobile Phones to Be Implemented

Sangim Yoo, Minister of Science and ICT. Photo by Yonhap News

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced that it will conduct a comprehensive review of security systems across all telecommunications companies and establish measures to prevent recurrence following the recent cyber breach at SK Telecom.

On May 9, at the Government Complex Seoul, Minister of Science and ICT Yoo Sangim made this statement while reporting to the public on the ministry’s key achievements in April 2025 and plans for May 2025.

After receiving a breach notification from SKT on April 20, the Ministry of Science and ICT took several actions, including requesting data preservation and submission, dispatching on-site experts, and forming a joint public-private investigation team. According to the first investigation results announced on April 29, subscriber phone numbers and identification keys were leaked, but there was no leakage of device unique identifiers (IMEI).

The Ministry of Science and ICT stated, "We will conduct a thorough investigation of the incident, transparently disclose the results to the public, and comprehensively review the security systems of all telecommunications companies to establish measures to prevent recurrence."

Meanwhile, in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), with the National Assembly’s approval of a supplementary budget of 1.9 trillion won for AI competitiveness, the ministry aims to launch a call for elite teams to participate in the 'World Best LLM Project'?an initiative to develop a 'Korean ChatGPT'?by mid-May. The ministry will also invite applications from operators capable of securing and building large-scale, advanced GPU infrastructure to accelerate the expansion of AI computing resources. For the 'AI Innovation Fund,' the ministry plans to select three venture capital firms (two for AI, one for SaaS) from among the 18 applicants through document screening and presentation evaluations within May.

In the field of low Earth orbit satellite communications, the ministry will review the cross-border supply agreement signed between Starlink Korea and SpaceX to enable service provision in Korea. Service can begin once the cross-border supply agreement is approved and user device conformity assessments are completed.

Additionally, with the restoration of mobile base stations affected by outages and damage from the Yeongnam wildfire, the ministry will conduct on-site inspections of mobile service quality until May 12. The ministry also plans to implement a service for verifying used device transactions and introduce a certification system for secure used device transaction operators.