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13h ago

South Korea Probes KT and LG Uplus After 278 Unauthorized Mobile Payments

Authorities have opened a joint investigation following the discovery of an illegal micro base station on KT’s network.

This photo taken Sept. 10, 2025, shows a retail store of South Korea's No. 2 mobile carrier KT Corp. in Seoul. (Yonhap)
Ryu Je-myung (C), second vice minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, speaks at a press conference at the government complex in Seoul on Sept. 10, 2025. (Yonhap)
A person walks toward a KT store in Seoul on Sept. 9, 2025. (Yonhap)
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Overview

  • Officials reported 278 cases totaling about 170 million won in small-sum mobile transactions charged to KT subscribers as of Wednesday.
  • The Personal Information Protection Commission launched a formal probe into KT and LG Uplus to determine whether personal data was leaked, despite no leaks being self-reported.
  • The science ministry labeled the incident a serious breach and convened a public–private task force, expanding inquiries into how the rogue device accessed the network and how payments were processed.
  • Investigators said an unregistered micro base station connected to KT’s network, while SK Telecom and LG Uplus reported no such devices after internal checks.
  • Reports have clustered in southwestern Seoul and nearby cities, and experts caution that fake base stations alone may not explain the fraud, prompting tests for possible secondary attack vectors.