"It is difficult to give specific numbers." "It cannot be measured at this time."
Executives participating in the first-quarter earnings conference call held by SK Telecom on the 12th responded passively to market questions regarding the 'impact of the hacking incident.' ▲ None of the concerns that SK Telecom shareholders may have regarding the financial damage from the hacking incident ▲ whether provisions will be made ▲ changes to future dividends policy ▲ and the impact of regulatory agencies' sanctions were addressed. As a result, criticism has emerged that 'communication with shareholders, following customer communication, is also a failing grade.'
SK Telecom was particularly tight-lipped about the financial impact of current follow-up actions regarding the hacking incident. The company has completely suspended new subscription operations, including number transfers, at over 2,600 T World stores nationwide since the 5th, following administrative guidance from the Ministry of Science and ICT. Yoon Jae-woong, head of SK Telecom's marketing strategy division, stated that the impact of the suspension of new customer recruitment will depend on how long the suspension lasts, adding that they would announce the expected timing for the resumption of new customer recruitment in the future.
According to SK Telecom, the number of customers who switched their carriers to KT and LG Uplus from the announcement of the data breach on the 22nd of last month to the 10th of this month totaled 301,342. Yoon noted that a certain level of expense is unavoidable for customer retention, stating, "We are monitoring the market situation."
Kim Yang-seop, Chief Financial Officer of SK Telecom, also noted, "It is difficult to quantify the financial impact of the hacking incident at this time," and added, "Potential costs like penalty surcharges are fluid." He said, "While a certain level of impact on shareholder return policies is inevitable due to the hacking incident, we cannot currently measure the scale."
A shareholder of SK Telecom, Mr. Choi (38), said, "Even though the company's response to the hacking incident has been inadequate, and subscribers have left in droves, and the stock price has continued to decline, I did not sell my shares," adding, "I believed that the company would present proactive measures to enhance shareholder value in the earnings announcement." He further criticized, saying, "SK Telecom just repeated what it has said like a 'broken record' during this earnings announcement."
There are criticisms that SK Telecom has lost even its second chance to regain market trust. If it lost customer trust due to inadequate response immediately after the breach, the lack of communication with shareholders during this earnings announcement has only heightened distrust.
Kim Joo-ho, head of the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy's economic team, said, "As the leading telecommunications operator, monetary expenditure is inevitable to regain trust, which may counteract shareholder interests," urging that they should have transparently disclosed the financial impacts through this earnings announcement and actively convinced shareholders of the need for measures to 'restore trust.'
Professor Hwang Yong-sik of the Business Administration Department at Sejong University commented, "SK Telecom has treated a major event like an earnings announcement as a mere 'formality,'" stating, "While it's understandable that companies hesitate to disclose shameful aspects, the current method of communication is worse than doing nothing."