SK Telecom Hacking Incident Raises Serious Privacy Concerns

On May 21, 2025, Koh Hak-soo, the Chairperson of the Personal Information Protection Commission, described the recent hacking incident involving SK Telecom as a "very serious event that threatens public trust." He emphasized that strict penalties would be imposed for any legal violations. Speaking at the 'Personal Information Policy Forum' held at the Bank Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul, Koh pointed to SK Telecom's failures as the primary cause of the breach. "Customers trusted the company (SK Telecom) while using its services, only to become victims of this incident. The damage has already been immense, and the company failed to prevent it," he stated.

Koh criticized SK Telecom's notification process regarding the data breach, calling it "delayed and inadequate," expressing significant regret over the situation. On May 2, the commission had ordered SK Telecom to inform all potentially affected customers by May 9. However, the company only communicated the breach to its customers on that date.

Koh noted, "The fact that SK Telecom did not notify customers until then is a major issue, and the information provided was passive and in some cases violated the Personal Information Protection Act. We deemed the notification insufficient and sent an official letter to SK Telecom regarding this matter."

Regarding claims that North Korea or China may be behind the hacking, he remarked, "It is often difficult to confirm the perpetrators behind hacking incidents. There are traces of information from the server being transferred to an IP address in Singapore, but identifying who controls that IP is challenging. International cooperation is necessary."

As for whether the hacked personal data has been leaked on the dark web, Koh stated, "Nothing has been discovered yet, but monitoring remains difficult." The dark web is known for being a hub for various cybercrimes, accessible only through specific software.

Koh also warned of potential secondary damages beyond just cloned phones, indicating that various forms of harm could arise. "We are continuously monitoring the situation," he added.