Seoul, Dec 21 South Korea's state-run consumer agency on Sunday ordered SK Telecom Co to pay 100,000 won ($67) in compensation to each user following its massive data breach earlier this year.
The decision by the Korea Consumer Agency came after 58 consumers sought dispute mediation with the agency in May following a data breach that affected all of the company's 23 million users, reports Yonhap news agency.
In April, SK Telecom belatedly disclosed a major leak of universal subscriber identity module (USIM) data from its servers, prompting the company to offer free USIM replacements to all of its users and triggering an investigation by regulators.
In August, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) slapped SK Telecom with a record of 134.8 billion won.
"Considering the joint investigation conducted by the government and the private sector in July and the ruling by the PIPC, it was recognised that the hacking incident caused damage to consumers," the agency said.
"SK Telecom holds responsibility for compensating individual consumers for the damage," it added.
Under the decision, the Korea Consumer Agency ordered SK Telecom to offer a 50,000 won reduction in monthly subscription fees and 50,000 won in credits usable as cash equivalents, bringing total compensation to 100,000 won per user.
If SK Telecom accepts the verdict within 15 days of receiving the notice, the agency will take steps to provide compensation to consumers who did not participate in the mediation process.
The estimated payout of about 2.3 trillion won ($1.5 billion) exceeds SK Telecom's 2024 net profit of 1.43 trillion won and is equivalent to roughly 13 percent of its 2024 sales of 17.94 trillion won.
"We will closely review the ruling and make a prudent decision," SK Telecom said in a statement following the announcement.
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