Seoul, June 23 The Ministry of Science and ICT here said on Monday it will lift a ban on new subscription sales by SK Telecom Co., following the mobile carrier's completion of universal subscriber identity module (USIM) replacements for its entire user base of 25 million.
SK Telecom is allowed to resume new subscription services starting Tuesday, the ministry added, reports Yonhap news agency.
The move comes about two months after the government suspended new subscriptions due to a data breach, in which sensitive USIM data may have been leaked during an unidentified cyberattack on the company's servers. The suspension remained in place while SK Telecom carried out a large-scale USIM replacement effort.
"SK Telecom has secured a sufficient supply of USIM chips, and its USIM booking system is operating smoothly," the ministry said. "We lifted the ban as the goal of our administrative guidance has been achieved."
However, the ministry instructed SK Telecom to continue prioritizing USIM replacement requests from users.
SK Telecom said new subscriptions will be available at its 2,600 T World retail stores starting Tuesday.
"We will provide services to new subscribers without interruption in close collaboration with our nationwide distribution network," the company said in a statement. "We will also continue supporting customers who wish to replace their USIM cards due to the security breach."
SK Telecom began offering free USIM card replacements in late April to all of its subscribers, including 2 million budget phone users, to prevent potential identity theft or financial fraud following the data breach.
The South Korean government had issued an administrative guidance demanding the company suspend new subscriptions at its retail stores nationwide until the replacement process is completed.
As the replacement neared completion, SK Telecom resumed limited new subscriptions using embedded SIMs (eSIMs) last week, according to the report.
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