'USIM Hacking' SKT CEO Yoo Youngsang to Attend National Assembly Hearing

Yoo Youngsang, CEO of SK Telecom (SKT), who was at the center of the USIM information hacking incident, will appear at a National Assembly hearing.

Noh Jongmyeon, floor spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Korea, told reporters on the morning of the 29th, "At the National Assembly Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee hearing scheduled for the 30th, in addition to the witnesses already selected, SKT CEO Yoo Youngsang will attend in the morning to answer questions related to the hacking incident."

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According to political sources, the ruling and opposition party secretaries of the National Assembly Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee held discussions the previous day to add CEO Yoo as a witness for the 'YTN and Other Broadcasting and Telecommunications Sector Hearing' scheduled for the 30th.

The committee's decision to summon CEO Yoo as a witness appears to stem from both the seriousness of the recent USIM information leak and criticism that SKT's follow-up measures have been insufficient. The committee is expected to question CEO Yoo about the circumstances surrounding the USIM information leak, the types of USIM information that were hacked, and the timing of when the hacking incident was first detected.

On the 22nd, SKT announced, "We have discovered indications that some USIM-related information of SKT customers may have been leaked due to malicious code," and added, "We are continuously working to determine the exact cause, scale, and specific items involved in the leak." However, SKT stated that the investigation into the types and scale of the leaked USIM information is still ongoing, and as of now, there have been no confirmed cases of the leaked information being actually misused. The Ministry of Science and ICT, Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), and the Personal Information Protection Commission are also conducting investigations into the incident.

Some have raised concerns that this leak could lead to damages such as 'SIM swapping,' which refers to the act of duplicating a USIM to steal calls, text messages, and even financial information sent to the user's number.

There has also been an outpouring of complaints from users regarding SKT's follow-up measures. Immediately after the hacking incident, SKT advised users to subscribe to the USIM protection service, but criticism over the inadequacy of this response led the company to decide to replace the USIM cards for all customers. The mass USIM replacement for all customers began at 10 a.m. the previous day, but as many subscribers rushed to replace their USIMs at once, long lines formed at service centers. The online reservation system for USIM replacement, set up by SKT, also crashed temporarily due to a surge in traffic.

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