SEOUL, April 19 (Korea Bizwire) – Kim Young-beom was the first to get his hands on a Galaxy S8+ from SK Telecom on Tuesday, after six days of waiting in front of the company’s Jonggak outlet – setting a new record since mobile carriers began “lining up” events here in 2009.
The launch event kicked off at 9 a.m., featuring now-retired figure skater Yuna Kim.
“I love the design,” Kim Young-beom said. “I have always enjoyed participating in unique competitions so I didn’t have much difficulty. I’m just dying to try out the device.”
As the winner of this “competition,” the 27-year-old Kim was rewarded 5-million-won ($4,385) worth of freebies, including Samsung’s latest SUHD TV. Customers from second to eighth in line also received gifts including a Samsung laptop, electric bicycle and a travel voucher.
KT Corp. held its launch event an hour earlier at 8 a.m. at KT Square, Gwanghwamun, where 25-year-old college student Kim Hyo-jin was given the honor of being the first subscriber. Kim had lined up with his girlfriend Yoon Yoo-rim, who was the second KT subscriber, since Sunday night.
Kim was offered prizes worth 2 million won, including a one-year free pass for KT’s top-tier mobile plan and the Samsung Gear S3 Frontier. He was also recommended as a torch relay runner for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics for review by the IOC and the PyeongChang 2018 organizing committee.
KT’s event also featured singer Taeyeon of Girls’ Generation.
Image Credit: Yonhap / photonews@koreabizwire.com