Major telecom companies — SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus — are sharply increasing their cybersecurity investments and strengthening security governance following last year's high-profile breaches, positioning security as a core business priority rather than a compliance obligation. According to the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), the three carriers’ combined information security investment rose to about 367.5 billion won ($243.9 million) in 2025, up about 22 percent from 301.2 billion won a year earlier, far outpacing the approximately 4 percent growth in overall IT investment. On average, the three carriers devoted nearly 7 percent of their overall IT investment to information security last year, compared with 5.8 percent in 2024. The widening gap reflects a shift in investment priorities as telecom companies respond to increasingly sophisticated cyber threats while seeking to restore consumer confidence after last year's security incidents. SK Telecom and its fixed-line affiliate SK Broadband together invested 143.4 billion won in information security, the largest amount am