Republic of Korea: Fair Trade Commission imposed corrective measures on KT Corporation for deceptive pre-order advertisements

On 23 January 2026, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) imposed a corrective order and an administrative fine of KRW 5 million on KT Corporation for misleading consumers during the Galaxy S25 series pre-order campaign. The enforcement action concerns advertisements displayed on KT’s online store between 24 and 25 January 2025, which stated that first-come-first-served benefits would apply unless a separate closing notice was shown, despite pre-order quantities being limited. As a result, KT accepted reservations exceeding its planned allocation and subsequently cancelled 7'127 pre-orders after surpassing the overall limit of 1'000 units across multiple channels. The Commission found that this conduct misrepresented supply conditions and constituted deceptive consumer inducement in violation of Article 21(1)(1) of the Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce. The FTC noted that KT provided affected consumers with KRW 30'000 in payment points and additional digital content subscriptions, but proceeded with enforcement and ordered KT to refrain from similar conduct in the future.