SK Telecom decided not to accept the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) Consumer Dispute Settlement Commission's proposal to pay the equivalent of 100,000 won per person in connection with the personal data leak that occurred in Apr. last year. To continue the process, the applicants for the collective dispute mediation (about 50 consumers, etc.) must file a separate civil lawsuit in court.
According to the mobile carrier industry on the 30th, SKT submitted its view to the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) Consumer Dispute Settlement Commission that it would not accept the decision on the collective dispute mediation issued that day. Earlier, at a meeting on the last month, the commission prepared a proposal calling for a 50,000 won discount on phone bills and the payment of 50,000 "T Plus Points," SKT's membership points.
Accordingly, the proposal will be closed as "not established." This proposal stemmed from a collective dispute mediation application filed in May last year by 58 consumers, who said their personal data had been leaked due to the "SK Telecom hacking damage," and demanded compensation and measures to prevent a recurrence.
SK Telecom said, "We carefully reviewed the dispute settlement commission's decision, but considering that we proactively carried out voluntary compensation efforts and strengthened security measures, and that accepting the proposal would have a very large ripple effect, we had no choice but to find it difficult to accept the proposal," and added, "We plan to continue to strengthen measures to restore customer trust and prevent additional damage."
The company estimated that if it accepted the proposal, compensation would also be provided to other victims who did not participate in the mediation, bringing the total compensation to an estimated 2.3 trillion won.
SK Telecom also filed an administrative lawsuit on the 19th to contest the 134.791 billion won penalty surcharge imposed by the Personal Information Protection Commission in Aug. last year over the personal data leak.