South Korea’s LG Uplus Corp. has emerged as the company with the most significant increase in investment in the field of information security among the country’s three major telecommunications companies.

According to the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), LG Uplus’s investment in the information security sector reached 44.2 billion won last year, marking a substantial 51.6 percent increase from a year ago. This growth rate stands as the highest among the three major telcoms. While KT Corp. claimed the top spot in terms of investment amount with 111.1 billion won, its on-year growth rate was limited to 8.8 percent.

In contrast, SK telecom Co. experienced a decline in its information security investment by 8.6 percent, amounting to 78.7 billion won from a year earlier.

Building on this momentum, LG Uplus announced plans to further bolster its investment in information security, aiming to reach an annual investment of up to 100 billion won. This commitment comes in the wake of a recent hacking incident that compromised customer information. Furthermore, the company intends to nurture skilled workforce in information security by sponsoring the Department of Information Security at Soongsil University.

Kakao Corp. allocated 44.1 billion won to its information security sector last year, up 78.2 percent from the previous year. Naver Corp. invested 76.6 billion won, surpassing Kakao in terms of investment, but its growth rate was 17.6 percent. Of particular significance is the substantial increase in dedicated information security personnel. Kakao reported a 68.2 percent surge, reaching a total of 254 employees, while Naver showed a more modest growth of 17.7 percent, with 217 dedicated employees.

When considering information security investment as a percentage of revenue, Korea’s leading information technology companies typically allocate around 0.6 to 1 percent. While this figure is similar to that of Google, it falls slightly lower than the corresponding investment ratio of Microsoft.

Meanwhile, among major Korean large companies, Samsung Electronics Co. claimed the top spot in information security investment with 243.4 billion won. Samsung Electronics boosted its investment by 42 percent from the previous year, accompanied by a substantial 70 percent increase in its dedicated IT security workforce, totaling 904 employees.

By Na Hyun-joon and Minu Kim

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