SK Telecom has claimed the top spot in key customer satisfaction surveys, including first place in the mobile phone category of the Korea Customer Satisfaction Index (KCSI) survey conducted by the Korea Productivity Association Consulting. This is the result of continuous efforts to enhance customer trust following a personal information breach incident.
On the 30th, SKT announced that it has secured first place in all three major customer satisfaction surveys in South Korea, following its top rankings in the National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI) last April and the Korean Service Quality Index (KS-SQI) in July.
SKT had relinquished its KCSI number one position, which it had maintained for 27 years until 2024, due to the aftermath of last year's cyber intrusion incident. The return to the top after just one year carries significant meaning.
In this year's survey, SKT rose to the overall first place as customer satisfaction increased compared to the previous year in key areas such as benefits for long-term customers, call and data quality, and plan satisfaction. This is the outcome of reorganizing its entire business around a "customer-centric" approach and continuously listening to customer voices to restore trust after the cyber intrusion incident.
Upon taking office, SKT CEO Jung Jae-heon declared that he would "return to the essence of our business and innovate customer value through trust." Since then, to directly hear customer voices, the company has conducted a total of 730 on-site CX activities, including "visiting services," targeting approximately 35,000 elderly customers across 87 cities and counties nationwide this year. The travel distance alone was 200,000 km, equivalent to five laps around the Earth.
Additionally, SKT named its founding anniversary "The Day We Stand Before Customers Again," with all executives, including CEO Jung Jae-heon, and the Customer Trust Committee visiting every site where customers are present, such as customer service centers, distribution networks, airport roaming centers, and welfare centers for people with disabilities. In addition, SKT is holding a "2026 Insight Day" together with its customer advisory board and Customer Trust Committee, while also analyzing Voice of Customer (VOC) data incoming to customer service centers using AI to improve products and services.
On the same day, SKT conducted an internal campaign to mark "Personal Information Protection Day" and Personal Information Protection Week (the 28th to October 2), reaffirming its principle of "Innovating Customer Value Through Trust."
During the campaign period, SKT is encouraging all employees to participate in a pledge to practice personal information protection. It is also operating a program through its internal intranet where employees share methods and experiences for protecting personal information that they are practicing in their actual work.
To actively protect customer information in the AI era, SKT has adopted "Privacy First" as an employee work principle and applies the "Privacy by Design" principle, which involves designing personal information protection from the service planning stage. The company is also operating a system to continuously manage risks across the entire lifecycle of AI agents used in internal operations, from development and testing to operation and termination.
CEO Jung stated, "The more widely AI is used, the more important it will be to safely protect personal information," adding, "Through personal information protection, our unwavering customer-first principle, and elevating the customer experience through AI, we will create changes that can be felt in daily life and lead to greater trust."
in TECH
