[Edaily Yun Junghoon· Reporter Ahn Yu-ri] The CEOs of South Korea’s three major mobile carriers met with Song Kyung-hee, Chairwoman of the Personal Information Protection Commission, and unanimously pledged to embed personal information protection into their operations and establish a prevention-focused protection system in the age of artificial intelligence (AI).

Jeong Jae-heon, CEO of SKTelecom(017670); Park Yoon-young, CEO of KTCorporation(030200); and Hong Beom-sik, CEO of LG Uplus(032640), met with Song Gyeong-hee, Chairwoman of the Personal Information Protection Commission, at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 28th to discuss measures to strengthen personal information protection. The three telecommunications companies also issued a joint declaration that day, stating they would make personal information protection their top management priority and establish a CEO-led accountability governance system.

CEO Jeong Jae-heon stated, “No matter how well a company responds to a personal information incident after it occurs, it is difficult to fully restore the trust that has been lost,” adding, “The best way to protect personal information is to identify risks in advance and proactively prevent them.”

SKT plans to invest 700 billion won in information security over the next five years. The company intends to adopt “Privacy First” as a working principle for all employees and make personal information protection the starting point for all operations, from service planning through development and operation.

In particular, the company will implement AI governance to proactively identify risks related to personal information and AI throughout the entire process of AI service planning, development, launch, and operation. CEO Jeong emphasized, “Personal information protection is not a barrier to AI innovation, but rather an infrastructure of trust that supports the AI industry’s further growth.”

CEO Park Yoon-young also stated that he would make personal information protection the top priority in management. KTCorporation plans to invest 2.2 trillion won over the next five years to modernize not only security but also the IT infrastructure that underpins it.

CEO Park said, “We have established a Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) system characterized by expertise and independence, and we operate a responsible governance structure in which the CEO and the board of directors directly review key risks and investment plans.”

KTCorporation plans to expand the scope of its Information Security Management System for Personal Information Protection (ISMS-P) certification to include network and media infrastructure, and to incorporate personal information protection throughout the entire service planning, development, and operation lifecycle.

CEO Park said, “I would like to apologize once again as CEO for causing concern to the public and the government due to the data breach that occurred last year,” adding, “We will devote all our resources to preventing such incidents from recurring.”

CEO Hong Beom-sik defined personal information protection as an area of corporate responsible management that goes beyond a technical challenge.

CEO Hong stated, “As AI and digital transformation accelerate, the importance of personal information protection grows even greater,” adding, “We will strengthen our protection system, which focuses on prevention, through continuous monitoring by the CEO, management, and the Chief Privacy Officer (CPO).”

He continued, “We will secure active investment and specialized expertise and embed Privacy by Design (PbD) throughout the entire service process,” adding, “In the AI era, innovation and protection must go hand in hand. We will strive to enhance transparency and accountability and ensure the protection of user rights.”

Chairwoman Song Kyung-hee emphasized, “Personal information protection is no longer the sole responsibility of the department in charge; it must become a core management priority that the CEO personally oversees and for which the entire company shares responsibility,” adding, “We can earn the public’s trust only when the joint declaration by the three major telecommunications companies translates into actual investment and action.”