South Korea’s SK Telecom to replace millions of USIMs after major hack attack



Briefings South Korea’s SK Telecom to replace millions of USIMs after major hack attack The company’s promises of compensation do little to quell fears of deeper systemic flaws in national telecom security KOREA PROApril 28, 2025 SHARE COPY LINK FACEBOOK X LINKEDIN MASTODON A smartphone's SIM card \| Image: Korea Pro SK Telecom will begin replacing the USIM cards of all 23 million of its customers starting Monday, the company said, after a recent cyberattack raised concerns about potential SIM-swapping threats. The move follows a public apology by SK Telecom executives and a pledge to provide free USIM replacements and compensation for any damages caused. As of Sunday evening, more than 5.5 million users had enrolled in a separate USIM protection service launched last week. The Ministry of Science and ICT separately announcedSunday that it had held emergency consultations with SK Telecom to minimize customer damages and delays. Under government © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from Korea Risk Group. LATEST ANALYSIS 01South Korea’s CPTPP push exposes the cost of turning trade gains into consensus 02AI storage boom gives South Korea battery makers an EV overcapacity lifeline 03South Korea’s Mexico strategy runs into the hard limits of USMCA politics 04Preschool test ban forces South Korea’s English hagwons to rethink placement 05Lee Jae Myung’s Wall Street pitch tests South Korea’s capital market credibility 06US midterm clock raises stakes for South Korea’s $200 billion investment talks 07Lee’s Hormuz red line tests South Korea’s leverage in $350 billion US talks 08South Korea’s AI data center boom is colliding with the true cost of power

Briefings

South Korea’s SK Telecom to replace millions of USIMs after major hack attack

The company’s promises of compensation do little to quell fears of deeper systemic flaws in national telecom security

KOREA PROApril 28, 2025

South Korea’s SK Telecom to replace millions of USIMs after major hack attack

A smartphone's SIM card | Image: Korea Pro

SK Telecom will begin replacing the USIM cards of all 23 million of its customers starting Monday, the company said, after a recent cyberattack raised concerns about potential SIM-swapping threats. The move follows a public apology by SK Telecom executives and a pledge to provide free USIM replacements and compensation for any damages caused. As of Sunday evening, more than 5.5 million users had enrolled in a separate USIM protection service launched last week.

The Ministry of Science and ICT separately announcedSunday that it had held emergency consultations with SK Telecom to minimize customer damages and delays. Under government

LATEST ANALYSIS

01South Korea’s CPTPP push exposes the cost of turning trade gains into consensus
02AI storage boom gives South Korea battery makers an EV overcapacity lifeline
03South Korea’s Mexico strategy runs into the hard limits of USMCA politics
04Preschool test ban forces South Korea’s English hagwons to rethink placement
05Lee Jae Myung’s Wall Street pitch tests South Korea’s capital market credibility
06US midterm clock raises stakes for South Korea’s $200 billion investment talks
07Lee’s Hormuz red line tests South Korea’s leverage in $350 billion US talks
08South Korea’s AI data center boom is colliding with the true cost of power

South Korea’s SK Telecom to replace millions of USIMs after major hack attack

LATEST ANALYSIS

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