Lee Junseok: "KT Small Payment Fraud May Involve Infrastructure-Level Vulnerabilities... Emergency Inquiry Needed"

Suspicions of Concentrated Damage Among Specific Regions and Telecom Providers
"Strong Possibility of Systemic Security Issues"
Calls for Prompt Compensation and Systematic Protective Measures for Victims

Lee Junseok, leader of the Reform New Party, on September 9 addressed the recent surge in small payment fraud cases primarily affecting KT users, stating, "Some have raised concerns about potential infrastructure-level vulnerabilities, such as wiretapping in the wired sections of base stations or internal software weaknesses in telecommunications equipment." He proposed an emergency inquiry by the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee to address the issue.

Through his social networking service (SNS) account on this day, Lee explained, "Recently, there has been a series of small payment fraud cases targeting KT users in specific areas, including Gwangmyeong in Gyeonggi Province and Geumcheon District in Seoul." He continued, "Dozens of cases have already been reported to the police. In some instances, gift cards and transportation cards worth hundreds of thousands of won have been purchased without the user's consent, and some victims have even reported that their payment limits were automatically raised without their approval."

Lee Junseok, leader of the Reform New Party, is being interviewed by So Jongseop, specialist, on Asia Economy AK Radio at the National Assembly on August 5, 2025. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

He emphasized, "The fact that these incidents are concentrated among users of a specific telecom company and in certain regions strongly suggests the possibility of a systemic security issue, rather than mere individual carelessness." He reiterated, "Some have pointed out potential infrastructure-level vulnerabilities, such as wiretapping in the wired sections of base stations or internal software weaknesses in telecommunications equipment."

Regarding KT's response, Lee stated, "KT must transparently disclose the initial facts and technical causes, and establish a systematic process for swift compensation and temporary protective measures for victims, such as payment deferrals for disputed transactions, limit locks, and blocking of additional payments." He added, "The most important responsibility of both the government and corporations is to restore consumer trust so that people can use telecommunications services with confidence."

Concerning the emergency inquiry, he said, "I will call for a prompt review of the network and equipment security in the affected areas, the control procedures for the small payment linkage system and limit increase logic, the preservation of logs and forensics as well as any signs of external breaches, and the compensation and recurrence prevention measures for victims." He concluded, "I will not simply dismiss the current KT incident as a matter of 'consumer negligence.' I will thoroughly and persistently investigate all areas to determine whether there were security flaws at the KT level."