Seoul: South Korean telecom operator KT Corp. has announced its decision to waive penalty fees for customers impacted by recent hacking incidents that resulted in unauthorized micropayments and data breaches. KT's CEO Kim Young-shub assured lawmakers during a parliamentary audit of the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee that the company will inform affected users about the waivers.
According to Yonhap News Agency, KT plans to determine the extent of penalty fee exemptions after evaluating the findings from a joint investigation conducted by government and private teams. The waiver will only apply to customers who experienced unauthorized micropayments or illegal base station connections. Any potential expansion of exemptions will depend on the results of the ongoing investigation.
Rep. Park Chung-kwon from the main opposition People Power Party criticized KT's slow response, highlighting that numerous affected customers had to pay penalty fees amounting to hundreds of thousands of won to terminate their contracts. Park urged KT to assume greater responsibility for the situation.
In response, CEO Kim expressed his willingness to take full responsibility and even consider resignation once the situation is resolved. As of last Friday, KT identified 20 illegal micro base station identification codes linked to unauthorized mobile payments, affecting 368 users who suffered combined losses of approximately 240 million won (US$169,000).
Micropayments refer to small-value digital purchases made through automated response systems or text messages, while direct carrier billing involves transactions processed directly by mobile operators.