SK Telecom Sees 23,000 Sign Up for USIM Reset on First Day; 1.59 Million USIM Replacements Completed

Bongho Lim, Head of Mobile Communications Division at SKT. Photo by Dongju Yoon

On May 13, SK Telecom announced that a total of 23,000 customers used its new USIM reset solution on the first day of its launch. Since the previous day, SKT has been offering the "USIM reset" service, which blocks duplication by changing some user information on the USIM without requiring a physical USIM replacement.

At a briefing held at the Samhwa Building on the same day, Bongho Lim, Head of the Mobile Communications Division, stated, "Approximately 20% of all USIM replacements on the first day opted for the USIM reset service," and added, "Since it was the first day, it took some time to provide guidance and proceed, and there were some shortcomings, but we will make sure to improve the process going forward."

Regarding the upgraded USIM protection service, which has also been rolled out to overseas roaming subscribers since the previous day, Lim explained, "For MLO customers, automatic enrollment was completed last night, and the plan is to complete enrollment for all customers by May 15."

Lim further added, "Once these measures are fully communicated and established, we plan to discontinue USIM replacement services at airports and reassign those staff to on-site locations to speed up the USIM replacement process."

SKT confirmed that, as of the previous day, there were 120,000 USIM replacements and a total of 1.59 million replacements overall. The number of remaining replacement reservations stands at 7.14 million.

Regarding the supply of the newly unveiled "Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge," which became available for pre-sale on this day, SKT confirmed that sales will not be possible during the period when new subscriptions are suspended, but reservations will be accepted for customers changing devices.

Lim stated, "At 2,600 T World stores and online, the device can be purchased once the suspension of new subscriptions is lifted, but until then, we cannot accept pre-orders," adding, "However, we will accept reservations and process them for customers changing devices."

Regarding USIM issues for device change customers, Lim explained, "In the past, when USIMs were in very short supply, customers had to make reservations to change their USIM during a device change. However, that is no longer the case," and added, "Customers who wish to change their USIM when changing devices can proceed accordingly," confirming that USIM replacement will be handled in parallel.

Regarding the timing for resuming new subscriptions at authorized dealers, Lim stated that since the USIM protection service upgrade has been completed and the USIM reset is being implemented in parallel, SKT will strive to resume as soon as possible.

Lim added, "For those who wish to replace their USIM, we will proceed to ensure replacements are completed by the end of June," and elaborated, "By the end of June, we will provide full guidance, and we expect that all customers who visit will have their USIMs replaced."

Meanwhile, regarding the expansion of security investments directly mentioned by Chairman Chey Tae-won, SKT explained that a plan will only be formulated after the government-private joint investigation team completes its investigation into the hacking incident. As for the Customer Trust Recovery Committee currently being formed internally, SKT indicated that the overall framework will be established as early as this week or, at the latest, by next week.