Customers are lining up in front of an SK Telecom direct store in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on the morning of the 28th, as SK Telecom begins free replacements of subscriber SIM cards after subscriber SIM information was stolen in a hacking attack. /Courtesy of News1

SK Telecom reported a sharp increase in subscriber churn in April following the hacking incident. According to the Korea Telecommunications Operators Association (KTOA), more than 237,000 subscribers left SK Telecom for other carriers during the month of April, marking an approximately 87% increase compared to the previous month. Of these, 95,953 moved to KT, and 86,005 switched to LG Uplus.

In particular, on May 1, 38,716 people left SK Telecom, while over 22,000 and 18,000 new subscribers joined KT and LG Uplus, respectively. SK Telecom is experiencing an increasing scale of subscriber churn following the hacking incident. Since the launch of the free SIM card replacement service on April 28, about 34,000 people have switched to other carriers, with approximately 60% of the departing subscribers moving to KT, while the remainder switched to LG Uplus.

In response, KT and LG Uplus are expanding their subsidies to attract subscribers. There are also predictions that SK Telecom's status as the top mobile carrier could be threatened. Additionally, the Ministry of Science and ICT has issued administrative guidance for SK Telecom to fully suspend the recruitment of new subscribers until the SIM card shortage issue is resolved.