SK Telecom has introduced a 'free replacement' card as a response to the leakage of subscriber identification device (USIM) information due to hacking. Consequently, a 'red light' has also been illuminated for SK Telecom's goal of achieving 'carbon neutrality' (management activities that reduce actual greenhouse gas emissions to '0'). The company is working toward a plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
According to the telecommunications industry on the 28th, SK Telecom has approximately 23 million subscribers, and about 1.87 million budget phone customers use this company’s network. All of these individuals are eligible for a free USIM replacement.
The Fraunhofer Institute in Germany estimated that the greenhouse gases produced throughout the entire process of producing, transporting, using, and disposing of USIM cards equate to 229 grams of carbon dioxide emissions. When new chips are provided to all eligible SK Telecom USIM replacement recipients, a simple calculation suggests that 5,695 tons of greenhouse gases will be emitted. This amount is comparable to the greenhouse gas emissions of approximately 406 people over the course of a year.
Earlier, the National Park Service introduced 10 species of trees native to national parks that absorb significant amounts of carbon, noting that the species with the highest absorption rate, the Korean oak, absorbs an average of 30.12 kilograms of carbon each year. To absorb all the greenhouse gases generated by the USIM replacements following the SK Telecom hacking incident, approximately 189,000 Korean oak trees would be required.
The amount of greenhouse gases directly emitted by SK Telecom in 2023 is around 6,063 tons. The greenhouse gases generated by the USIM replacement are expected to be on par with the greenhouse gases directly emitted by SK Telecom.