South Korea's Fair Trade Commission said on Jan. 25 it fined KT 5 million won and issued a corrective order after it failed to inform consumers that supplies were limited when taking smartphone preorders.

The commission said KT took reservations for Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S25 series on a KT cyber mall event page from Jan. 24 to Feb. 3 last year. It said KT told customers that they could receive benefits for various first-come events unless there was a separate notice of closure, despite limited stock. It later cancelled 7,127 reservations it had accepted, it said.

The commission said KT had allocated 400 units for applications made through Genie TV and All Right Studio, where it posted event banners. It said KT's display that customers could buy the product by making a reservation amounted to luring consumers by providing false or exaggerated information or using deceptive methods. It said this violated the Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce Act.

The commission said it plans to monitor telecoms operators that lure consumers by falsely or exaggeratingly announcing preorder volumes or using deceptive methods. It said it would take strict action over violations of the e-commerce law.

[Yonhap]