Seoul: The government has issued an administrative guidance order instructing SK Telecom Co. to suspend new subscriber sign-ups until it resolves a shortage of universal subscriber identity module (USIM) cards. This shortage is linked to a recent data breach affecting the company's network.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced that the measure aims to prevent further harm to customers. SK Telecom, South Korea's leading mobile carrier, has been urged to implement stronger corrective actions in response to the incident. The ministry also instructed the carrier to refrain from accepting customers who wish to switch to SK Telecom while retaining their current phone numbers until the USIM card supply stabilizes.
Additionally, the ministry has requested that SK Telecom submit a detailed implementation plan for its commitment to automatically apply USIM protection services to vulnerable users. SK Telecom, which serves 25 million subscribers in a country with a population of 50 million, detected the cyberattack on April 18 and discovered signs of a large-scale leak of customers' USIM data.
The company is offering free USIM chip replacements to all of its customers, but replacement services have faced disruptions due to the shortage of USIM cards and the high demand from customers wishing to take precautionary measures. SK Telecom has stated that it feels "grave responsibility" for the situation and is exploring ways to comply with the administrative guidance.