On the morning of April 28, when SK Telecom (SKT) began offering free USIM replacements, people are lined up in front of a dealership in Dongjak-gu, Seoul. SK Telecom announced on the 4th that it would not comply with the Korea Communications Commission’s Telecommunications Dispute Mediation Committee’s decision to extend the deadline for penalty fee exemptions until the end of the year.
SK Telecom did not submit an opinion within the deadline, which was until the previous day, and thus automatically did not accept the adjustment decision. SK Telecom explained, “We have thoroughly reviewed the decision of the Telecommunications Dispute Mediation Committee, but concluded that it is difficult to accept it due to the significant impact on the company and the ripple effect on similar lawsuits and collective disputes.”
The dispute mediation committee of the Korea Communications Commission had issued a self-regulatory adjustment decision on the 21st of last month, requiring SK Telecom to waive the entire cancellation penalty for users terminating their mobile services by the end of this year and to charge only half of the penalty for Internet and TV package services. At that time, the committee pointed out that SK Telecom’s penalty exemption period was too short, being only about ten days.
The dispute mediation committee’s decision does not have legal enforcement power. If SK Telecom does not accept the self-regulatory decision, the case is concluded as ‘unsettled.’
Meanwhile, regarding SK Telecom’s personal information leak incident, the Personal Information Dispute Mediation Committee announced that it would accept additional applications for involvement as a party in the collective dispute mediation application from today until September 18. Additional application forms can be submitted via email or post.