[EXPLAINER] How SKT data breach pushed inflation up by 0.6 percentage point

Last year's data breach at SK Telecom led to a 0.6 percentage point increase in consumer inflation, according to recent government data. The incident caused a 50 percent reduction in mobile phone bills for over 20 million subscribers, creating a base effect that influenced August's inflation rate. The Ministry of Data and Statistics reported that the consumer price index stood at 120.05 in August, marking a 3.1 percent increase from the previous year.

Inflation had been on the rise, reaching 3.2 percent in June before easing to 2.8 percent in July. However, the August surge was primarily due to the diminishing impact of SK Telecom's mobile bill discounts, which initially affected roughly 25 million customers. While the latest data may initially appear to indicate increased inflationary pressures, the reality is that the August rise was largely a result of the fading effect of the large-scale bill cuts introduced by the carrier in the wake of the data breach.