SK Telecom rejects arbitration recommending W100,000 compensation per customer

SK Telecom, whose massive data breach last year exposed the personal information of 23 million subscribers, rejected a public agency’s arbitration recommending compensation of 100,000 won ($69.40) per customer. The telecoms operator said in a statement that it had “thoroughly reviewed” the Korea Consumer Agency’s decision but decided to reject the arbitration because it had already “implemented its own compensation plans and security measures” and because “accepting the arbitration proposal may cause significant impacts.” In December, the Korea Consumer Agency’s Consumer Dispute Settlement Commission issued an arbitration decision after 58 SK Telecom users filed complaints over the data breach in April. The commission proposed that SK Telecom compensate all of its subscribers with a 50,000 won discount on their mobile bills, along with 50,000 membership points that can be used at partner companies. If SK Telecom accepted the arbitration, the total compensation it would owe is estimated at around 2.3 trillion won ($1.6 billion). With SK Telecom rejecting the arbitration,