The Telecommunications Dispute Mediation Committee (Chairman Gu Jong-sang) announced on the 21st that it had made an ex officio mediation decision to partially acknowledge the responsibility of the two telecommunications companies, SK Telecom and KT, regarding the penalty dispute related to SK Telecom’s infringement incident and the pre-order cancellation dispute related to KT’s ‘Galaxy S25’.
First, there were a total of four dispute mediation applications received following the SK Telecom infringement incident. Among them, two cases required the waiver of penalties due to the termination of bundled services, including wired services such as the internet and TV, in addition to mobile communication services. The dispute mediation committee decided that SK Telecom should pay 50% of the penalty (discount refund) borne by the applicant.
The committee cited SK Telecom’s violation of its contractual obligation to provide safe communication services and the fact that the termination of the bundled service was an inevitable measure caused by SK Telecom’s fault as the basis for its decision. It was also considered that the termination of wired services was foreseeable since wired and wireless bundles are practically sold as integrated products, even if they are separately agreed upon.
Additionally, regarding two cases related to sending full penalties to customers who applied for service termination after the penalty waiver deadline of July 14, 2025, the committee decided that if mobile communication service termination is applied for within this year, the penalties should be fully waived. Since there are no legal grounds to limit the exercise period for rightful contract termination rights without legal reasons for extinction, the committee found no legal basis for SK Telecom’s announced termination deadline.
The committee also pointed out that the short deadline of 10 days after the penalty waiver announcement on July 4 and a single text notification may make it difficult for users to fully understand the content. There was no reasonable reason to exclude customers who canceled after the deadline from the waiver coverage.
The KT-related dispute pertains to 22 applications from customers whose pre-order reservations for the ‘Galaxy S25’ event were arbitrarily canceled. KT conducted the pre-order event from January 23 to 25, but canceled reservations due to the omission of the notification regarding the ‘limited to the first 1,000 applicants’ condition of the partnered channel and informed customers via text.
In the dispute mediation application case regarding demands for compensation, the committee decided that KT must provide the promised gift certificates from January, specifically: a 100,000 won Naver Pay certificate and a 50,000 won Casetify certificate (for influencer routes), or a 100,000 won Shinsegae certificate (for Genie TV routes) to the applicants.
The committee deemed it insufficient to view that KT had reasons making it difficult to supply the Galaxy S25 devices and ruled that KT had no right to cancel the reservations arbitrarily. There were no circumstances suggesting the event was genuinely first-come-first-serve, and no evidence was found that a limited quantity was supplied by the manufacturer. The main reason for the pre-order cancellation was viewed as KT avoiding promotional costs.
Moreover, it was stated that the compensation provided voluntarily by KT does not constitute a settlement for damages as per the agreement with the applicants. KT is responsible for damages corresponding to additional benefits through partnership channels.
The Telecommunications Dispute Mediation Committee notified both the respondents (telecommunications companies) and the applicants (total of 26) of this ex officio mediation decision, considering factors such as the multiple applicants involved, the possibility of prolonged disputes, and the need to ensure consistency and equity in mediation.
The ex officio mediation decision requires acceptance by both parties for the mediation to be finalized. If anyone refuses, the mediation concludes without being finalized. The committee expressed hope that the telecommunications companies will accept the decision and proactively work to protect user rights and interests.