South Korea

'해킹 직격탄' 이통사, 3분기 영업익 30%↓

ET News | Local Language | News | Oct. 3, 2025 | Cyber Attacks and Data Loss

The combined operating profit of South Korea's three major mobile carriers—SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus—is expected to decrease by about 30% year-over-year in Q3 2025, falling to approximately 850 billion won. Their combined revenue is forecasted at 14.73 trillion won, down 1.7% from Q3 2024. Despite earlier quarters exceeding 1 trillion won in operating profit, the carriers have struggled to recover from recent hacking incidents.

Individually, SK Telecom's Q3 revenue is projected to decline 12.9% to 3.95 trillion won, with operating profit dropping sharply by 90.3% to 5.16 billion won due to hacking fallout and resulting fines. KT's revenue is expected to increase 3.5% to 6.89 trillion won, with operating profit rising 18.1% to 548.3 billion won, though recent hacking issues have started impacting subscriber numbers. LG Uplus anticipates a 2.4% revenue rise to 3.89 trillion won, and a slight 2% increase in operating profit to 251 billion won, though voluntary retirement costs affected results.

The weakened performance is attributed to hacking incidents affecting SK Telecom's USIM and KT's micropayment systems, alongside the repeal of mobile subsidy regulations, which spurred increased customer churn. SK Telecom reported a net loss of over 600,000 subscribers since April and has offered nearly 1 trillion won in compensation and faced a 130 billion won fine. KT had been gaining SK Telecom subscribers but faced a net subscriber decrease after its own hacking incident. LG Uplus's results were also hit by voluntary retirement costs. Analysts expect these challenges to continue into Q4.

Financial firms advise investors to wait until all Q3 earnings announcements are made and hacking-related costs are clearer, likely after late November, before investing in telecom stocks. Uncertainties over KT's compensation, ongoing investigations into LG Uplus data leaks, and spectrum supply issues remain key concerns for the upcoming quarter. SK Telecom's large compensation package is viewed as reducing uncertainty despite causing a sharp profit decline expected to persist into 2025.

[정보공시 Q&ampA] 기후 리스크 관리를 위한 공시 체계는

Hankyung | Local Language | News | Oct. 3, 2025 | Climate Change

In August 2022, record-breaking heavy rains caused severe flooding in the Seoul metropolitan area, resulting in insurer losses over 60 billion won. Similar flooding occurred again in 2024. Flooding and other climate-related events, including sea level rise and storm surges in U.S. coastal states, are impacting property values and prompting investors to consider long-term climate risks. The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), effective recently, requires domestic companies with European subsidiaries or clients to comply with stricter greenhouse gas emissions reporting, increasing costs that will affect financial statements soon.

Financial institutions define climate risk as threats to asset values and financial stability due to climate change. These risks include physical risks from natural disasters and environmental shifts, and transition risks from regulatory, policy, and technological changes linked to a low-carbon economy. Various countries’ financial authorities are setting guidelines for financial institutions to assess and manage these risks systematically, along with disclosure frameworks to reveal climate risk management effectiveness and portfolio exposures.

In June 2025, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) introduced a climate risk disclosure framework under Pillar III, which jurisdictions may implement voluntarily. This framework covers qualitative details like climate risk management systems and quantitative data such as asset exposure, stress test results, and capital adequacy ratios factoring in climate risk. In South Korea, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) issued climate risk management guidelines in 2021 and conducted a joint climate stress test with the Bank of Korea in 2024. Domestic disclosure standards are expected to evolve by incorporating international frameworks like BCBS.

Climate change is a real and measurable risk for financial institutions, with regulatory authorities providing guidance for managing and disclosing these risks. Domestic financial firms are likely to adopt standardized climate risk evaluation and disclosure practices moving forward.

“요즘 빵값 이러니 안 오를 수 있나”...공정위, 설탕값 짬짜미 손본다

Maekyung | Local Language | News | Oct. 3, 2025 | Regulation

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) in South Korea is intensifying efforts to combat price-fixing and unfair practices in the sugar, flour, and egg markets, particularly amid rising bread prices ahead of the 2025 Chuseok holiday. The Commission plans to conclude its investigation into suspected collusion among three major sugar-refining companies—CJ CheilJedang, Samyang, and Daehan Sugar—that together hold over 90% of the domestic market share. The structure of the sugar industry, which relies on importing raw sugar and processing it domestically under a high 30% tariff on refined sugar imports, is seen as a factor limiting competition and contributing to price hikes.

Chairman Joo Byung-gi of the FTC highlighted the need to review protective measures such as tariffs, which currently restrict cheaper sugar imports and may contribute to price inflation. The Commission is also closely monitoring the flour market, dominated by three companies accounting for 75% of the market, where domestic prices have outpaced international flour prices by more than 30% over the last four years, suggesting potential trade barriers and collusion risks. The FTC's crackdown extends to ongoing probes into alleged egg price-fixing involving the Korea Laying Hen Association and investigations into pork price collusion among six meat processors.

President Lee Jae-myung has emphasized the importance of addressing monopolistic practices, questioning whether South Korea has mechanisms similar to the U.S. for breaking up monopolies. He has urged the FTC to take stronger actions against price collusion and systemic abuses, specifically calling out the sugar industry’s tariff-related issues as an area needing remediation to prevent consumer exploitation. The FTC aims to finalize its investigations and decide on appropriate sanctions within October 2025.