KT rolled out compensation measures, including waiving early termination fees for mobile service customers who cancel and providing data to all customers, in connection with a large-scale hacking breach. The move follows a government finding that the company violated its duty to provide "safe telecommunications services."
KT on the 30th held a press briefing at its Gwanghwamun headquarters in Seoul, formally apologized for the breach, and announced compensation and enhanced information security measures to restore customer trust. KT chief executive Kim Young-shub said, "We deeply apologize to customers who experienced inconvenience and damage due to the breach," and added, "We will take the investigation results seriously and do our best to prevent a recurrence and restore trust."
KT will first waive early termination fees for customers who wish to cancel their mobile service. The applicable period is from Dec. 31, 2025, to Jan. 13, 2026, and customers who cancel during this period will not be charged a termination fee. The waiver will also be applied retroactively to customers who already canceled between Sept. 1, 2025, and Dec. 30, 2025. However, those excluded are new subscribers after Sept. 1, customers who changed devices or renewed contracts, budget phone and IoT lines, and customers whose contracts were terminated ex officio.
The termination fee waiver will be processed by refund. Customers can apply from Jan. 14 to 31, 2026, via the KT website, customer center, and KT stores nationwide, and refunds will be made sequentially depending on the cancellation date and application timing. KT will open a separate information page to let customers check eligibility and estimated refund amounts in advance and will also provide guidance by text message.
In addition to customers who cancel, KT will implement a "customer appreciation program" for all customers using the service as of the end of the termination fee waiver. Starting in Feb. 2026, it will automatically provide 100GB of data per month for six months. Suspended lines, IoT, and prepaid phones are excluded.
Roaming benefits for overseas users will also expand. Roaming data will be provided with a 50% increase, and existing roaming promotions will be extended under the same conditions for six months, running through Aug. 2026.
For content benefits, customers can choose one of two OTT services and receive a pass for six months of use. Membership discounts focused on everyday partners such as coffee, movie, bakery, and ice cream will also run for six months. Detailed partner lists and discount terms will be announced separately before implementation.
In addition, KT will offer "safety and assurance insurance" for two years to ease customer concerns. It will cover losses from mobile phone phishing and hacking, online shopping mall fraud, and secondhand transaction fraud, and it will be applied automatically without a separate application for customers aged 65 or older. KT plans to operate a dedicated counseling center to handle inquiries related to the termination fee waiver and compensation program.
The compensation plan came immediately after the government announced its final investigation results. A public-private joint investigation team inspected about 33,000 KT servers and found that 94 were infected with 103 types of malware, and determined that in some sections there was a possibility that text messages and call contents could have been leaked. The Ministry of Science and ICT viewed this as "a case of failing to fulfill the obligation to provide safe telecommunications services to users" and concluded it constitutes grounds for waiving termination fees.
To prevent a recurrence, KT will launch a companywide "information security innovation TF." It plans to integrate management across networks, servers, equipment, and the supply chain and conduct a full inspection of systems that handle personal information. It will strengthen accountability centered on the chief information security officer (CISO) and expand regular security inspections at the management and board levels.
In the mid to long term, it plans to push forward with expanding a Zero Trust Security framework, advancing integrated security monitoring, strengthening access rights management, and expanding encryption through a 1 trillion won information security investment over the next five years.
KT said, "We fully recognize our responsibility as a national key telecommunications operator," and added, "Along with fulfilling compensation, we will move to restore trust through fundamental improvements to our security framework."