As hacking incidents at telecom companies continue to expose customer data, concerns are mounting over potential breaches at South Korea’s three major mobile carriers. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s three major mobile carriers are expected to post a combined operating profit exceeding 4 trillion won in 2025, rebounding despite a year marked by high-profile hacking incidents that rattled the telecommunications industry, analysts said.
According to a consensus of forecasts compiled by Yonhap Infomax from brokerage reports issued over the past month, SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus are projected to record combined revenue of about 60.9 trillion won and operating profit of roughly 4.38 trillion won. If realized, the figures would represent year-on-year increases of 3.3 percent in revenue and 25.4 percent in operating profit.
The recovery, however, has been uneven.
SK Telecom, the market leader, is expected to post revenue of 17.15 trillion won and operating profit of 1.06 trillion won, down 4.4 percent and 42 percent, respectively, from the previous year. The decline reflects the lingering fallout from a major hacking and data breach disclosed last April.
In response, the company waived contract termination fees in July and introduced steep bill discounts and compensation programs in August, triggering subscriber losses and a sharp drop in mobile service revenue. The impact was most pronounced in the third quarter, when operating profit plunged more than 90 percent from a year earlier.
The logos of South Korea’s major telecom operators — KT Corp., SK Telecom Co. and LG Uplus Corp. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
KT, by contrast, is forecast to deliver a sharp rebound, with revenue estimated at 28.24 trillion won and operating profit at 2.42 trillion won — increases of 6.9 percent and nearly 200 percent.
The gains were driven by growth in core telecommunications and artificial intelligence–related transformation services, as well as one-off real estate income from the redevelopment of a major property in northern Seoul.
Analysts noted, however, that costs related to KT’s own hacking incident — including SIM card replacements and customer compensation — are expected to weigh more heavily on results in the first half of 2026.
LG Uplus is projected to post revenue of 15.52 trillion won and operating profit of 901.5 billion won, up 6.1 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively. The company benefited from an influx of subscribers leaving rival carriers after the security breaches, along with steady growth in business-to-business services and data center operations.
Still, all three operators are expected to fall short of market expectations in the fourth quarter, largely because of one-time expenses. SK Telecom is set to book about 250 billion won in costs tied to voluntary retirement programs, while KT faces roughly 100 billion won in security-related expenses. LG Uplus is also expected to absorb several hundred billion won in performance bonuses following its improved annual results.
With the worst of the hacking fallout now largely behind them, industry watchers say attention is shifting to whether the carriers can turn years of investment in artificial intelligence, data centers and enterprise services into sustainable profit growth in 2026 — a test that may prove more consequential than last year’s security crises.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
