KT 20-F Report ended Dec. 31, 2017

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 30, 2018

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 20-F

☐	REGISTRATION STATEMENT PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(b) OR (g) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

OR

☒	ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017

OR

☐	TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

OR

☐	SHELL COMPANY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Date of event requiring this shell company report

For the transition period from to

Commission file number 1-14926

KT Corporation

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

KT Corporation		The Republic of Korea
(Translation of Registrant’s name into English)		(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

KT Gwanghwamun Building East

33, Jong-ro 3-Gil, Jongno-gu

03155 Seoul, Korea

(Address of principal executive offices)

Kyung-Keun Yoon

KT Gwanghwamun Building East

33, Jong-ro 3-Gil, Jongno-gu

03155 Seoul, Korea

Telephone: +82-31-727-0114; E-mail: kk.yoon@kt.com; ktir@kt.com

(Name, telephone, e-mail and/or facsimile number and address of company contact person)

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act.

Title of each class		Name of each exchange on which registered
American Depositary Shares, each representing		New York Stock Exchange, Inc.
one-half of one share of ordinary share
Ordinary share, par value ￦ 5,000 per share*		New York Stock Exchange, Inc.*

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act.

None

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act.

None

As of December 31, 2017, there were 245,097,055 ordinary shares, par value ￦ 5,000 per share, outstanding

(not including 16,014,753 ordinary shares held by the registrant as treasury shares)

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer ☒ Accelerated filer ☐ Non-accelerated filer ☐ Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards ^† provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

† The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing. U.S. GAAP ☐ IFRS ☒ Other ☐

If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow. Item 17 ☐ Item 18 ☐

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

*	Not for trading, but only in connection with the registration of the American Depositary Shares.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

						Page
PART I							1
ITEM 1.		IDENTITY OF DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGERS AND ADVISERS					1
		Item 1.A.		Directors and Senior Management			1
		Item 1.B.		Advisers			1
		Item 1.C.		Auditors			1
ITEM 2.		OFFER STATISTICS AND EXPECTED TIMETABLE					1
		Item 2.A.		Offer Statistics			1
		Item 2.B.		Method and Expected Timetable			1
ITEM 3.		KEY INFORMATION					2
		Item 3.A.		Selected Financial Data			2
		Item 3.B.		Capitalization and Indebtedness			6
		Item 3.C.		Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds			6
		Item 3.D.		Risk Factors			6
ITEM 4.		INFORMATION ON THE COMPANY					25
		Item 4.A.		History and Development of the Company			25
		Item 4.B.		Business Overview			25
		Item 4.C.		Organizational Structure			55
		Item 4.D.		Property, Plants and Equipment			55
ITEM 5.		OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW AND PROSPECTS					59
		Item 5.A.		Operating Results			59
		Item 5.B.		Liquidity and Capital Resources			85
		Item 5.C.		Research and Development, Patents and Licenses, Etc.			89
		Item 5.D.		Trend Information			90
		Item 5.E.		Off-balance Sheet Arrangements			90
		Item 5.F.		Tabular Disclosure of Contractual Obligations			90
		Item 5.G.		Safe Harbor			90
ITEM 6.		DIRECTORS, SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES					90
		Item 6.A.		Directors and Senior Management			90
		Item 6.B.		Compensation			94
		Item 6.C.		Board Practices			95
		Item 6.D.		Employees			97
		Item 6.E.		Share Ownership			98

i

						Page
ITEM 7.		MAJOR SHAREHOLDERS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS					99
		Item 7.A.		Major Shareholders			99
		Item 7.B.		Related Party Transactions			99
		Item 7.C.		Interests of Experts and Counsel			99
ITEM 8.		FINANCIAL INFORMATION					99
		Item 8.A.		Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information			99
		Item 8.B.		Significant Changes			102
ITEM 9.		THE OFFER AND LISTING					102
		Item 9.A.		Offer and Listing Details			102
		Item 9.B.		Plan of Distribution			104
		Item 9.C.		Markets			104
		Item 9.D.		Selling Shareholders			109
		Item 9.E.		Dilution			109
		Item 9.F.		Expenses of the Issuer			109
ITEM 10.		ADDITIONAL INFORMATION					109
		Item 10.A.		Share Capital			109
		Item 10.B.		Memorandum and Articles of Association			109
		Item 10.C.		Material Contracts			115
		Item 10.D.		Exchange Controls			115
		Item 10.E.		Taxation			120
		Item 10.F.		Dividends and Paying Agents			127
		Item 10.G.		Statements by Experts			127
		Item 10.H.		Documents on Display			127
		Item 10.I.		Subsidiary Information			128
ITEM 11.		QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK					128
ITEM 12.		DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES OTHER THAN EQUITY SECURITIES					131
		Item 12.A.		Debt Securities			131
		Item 12.B.		Warrants and Rights			131
		Item 12.C.		Other Securities			131
		Item 12.D.		American Depositary Shares			131
PART II							133
ITEM 13.		DEFAULTS, DIVIDEND ARREARAGES AND DELINQUENCIES					133
ITEM 14.		MATERIAL MODIFICATIONS TO THE RIGHTS OF SECURITY HOLDERS AND USE OF PROCEEDS					133

ii

						Page
ITEM 15.		CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES					133
ITEM 16.		[RESERVED]					134
		Item 16A.		Audit Committee Financial Expert			134
		Item 16B.		Code of Ethics			134
		Item 16C.		Principal Accountant Fees and Services			135
		Item 16D.		Exemptions from the Listing Standards for Audit Committees			135
		Item 16E.		Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers			136
		Item 16F.		Change in Registrant’s Certifying Accountant			136
		Item 16G.		Corporate Governance			136
		Item 16H.		Mine Safety Disclosure			137
PART III							138
ITEM 17.		FINANCIAL STATEMENTS					138
ITEM 18.		FINANCIAL STATEMENTS					138
ITEM 19.		EXHIBITS					138

iii

PRESENTATION

All references to “Korea” or the “Republic” contained in this annual report mean the Republic of Korea. All references to the “Government” are to the government of the Republic of Korea. All references to “we,” “us” or the “Company” are to KT Corporation and, as the context may require, its subsidiaries.

All references to “Won” or “ ￦ ” in this annual report are to the currency of the Republic and all references to “Dollars,” “$,” “US$” or “U.S. dollars” are to the currency of the United States of America. Our monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currency are translated into Won at the market average exchange rate announced by Seoul Money Brokerage Services, Ltd. (the “Market Average Exchange Rate”) on the balance sheet dates, which were, for U.S. dollars, ￦ 1,172.0 to US$1.00, ￦ 1,208.5 to US$1.00 and ￦ 1,071.4 to US$1.00 on December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively. Our consolidated financial statements are expressed in Won and, solely for the convenience of the reader, the consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2017 have been translated into United States dollars at the rate of ￦ 1,071.4 to US$1.00, the Market Average Exchange Rate in effect on December 29, 2017.

Any discrepancies in any table between totals and the sums of the amounts listed are due to rounding.

All market share data contained in this annual report, unless otherwise specified, are based on the number of subscribers announced by the Ministry of Science and ICT (the “MSIT”) (ICT standing for Information & Communication Technology), the Korea Communications Commission (the “KCC”) or the Korea Telecommunications Operators Association.

PART I

Item 1. Identity of Directors, Senior Managers and Advisers

Item 1.A. Directors and Senior Management

Not applicable.

Item 1.B. Advisers

Not applicable.

Item 1.C. Auditors

Not applicable.

Item 2. Offer Statistics and Expected Timetable

Item 2.A. Offer Statistics

Not applicable.

Item 2.B. Method and Expected Timetable

Not applicable.

1

Item 3. Key Information

Item 3.A. Selected Financial Data

You should read the selected consolidated financial data below in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements (“Consolidated Financial Statements”) as of December 31, 2016 and 2017 and for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2017, and the report of the independent registered public accounting firm on these statements included herein. These audited financial statements and the related notes have been prepared under International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”). The selected consolidated financial data for the three years ended December 31, 2017 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements. We have derived the selected consolidated financial data as of December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 and for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013 from our historical consolidated financial statements not included in this annual report.

In addition to preparing financial statements in accordance with IFRS as issued by the IASB included in this annual report, we also prepare financial statements in accordance with IFRS as adopted by the Republic of Korea (“K-IFRS”), which we are required to file with the Financial Services Commission and the Korea Exchange under the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act of Korea (“FSCMA”). English translations of such financial statements are furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission under Form 6-K. See “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—Item 5.A. Operating Results—Explanatory Note Regarding Presentation of Certain Financial Information under K-IFRS” for additional information.

The information set forth below is not necessarily indicative of the results of future operations and should be read in conjunction with “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” and our Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes included in this annual report.

2

Consolidated statement of operations data

		Year Ended December 31,
		2013				2014				2015				2016				2017				2017 (1)
		(In billions of Won and millions of Dollars, except per share data)
Continuing Operations:
Operating revenue		￦	23,146			￦	22,613			￦	22,700			￦	23,121			￦	23,547			US$	21,978
Revenue			22,818				22,359				22,212				22,755				23,260				21,709
Others			328				253				488				366				287				269
Operating expenses			22,911				23,392				21,623				21,781				22,478				20,980
Operating profit			235				(779	)			1,077				1,340				1,069				998
Finance income			278				253				273				296				406				379
Finance costs			(633	)			(792	)			(645	)			(515	)			(645	)			(602	)
Income from jointly controlled entities and associates			7				19				6				3				(14	)			(12	)
Profit (loss) from continuing operations before income tax			(114	)			(1,299	)			711				1,123				817				763
Income tax expense (benefit)			12				(271	)			227				328				271				253
Profit (loss) for the year from the continuing operations			(126	)			(1,028	)			484				795				546				510
Discontinued operations:
Profit (loss) from discontinued operations			38				86				141				—				—				—
Profit (loss) for the year		￦	(88	)		￦	(941	)		￦	625			￦	795			￦	546			US$	510
Profit (loss) for the year attributable to:
Equity holders of the parent company		￦	(190	)		￦	(1,030	)		￦	546			￦	708			￦	462			US$	431
Profit (loss) from continuing operations			(216	)			(1,094	)			404				708				462				431
Profit (loss) from discontinued operations			26				64				142				—				—				—
Non-controlling interest		￦	102			￦	89			￦	78			￦	87			￦	85			US$	79
Profit from continuing operations			90				66				80				87				85				79
Profit (loss) from discontinued operations			12				22				(1	)			—				—				—
Earnings per share attributable to the equity holders of the Parent Company during the period:
Basic earnings (loss) per share		￦	(779	)		￦	(4,215	)		￦	2,231			￦	2,893			￦	1,884			US$	2
From continuing operations			(885	)			(4,477	)			1,650				2,893				1,884				2
From discontinued operations			106				262				581				—				—				—
Diluted earnings (loss) per share		￦	(782	)		￦	(4,215	)		￦	2,231			￦	2,891			￦	1,883			US$	2
From continuing operations			(888	)			(4,477	)			1,650				2,891				1,883				2
From discontinued operations			106				262				581				—				—				—

3

Consolidated statement of financial position data

		As of December 31,
Selected Statement of Financial Position Data		2013				2014				2015				2016				2017				2017 (1)
		(In billions of Won and millions of Dollars)
Assets:
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents		￦	2,071			￦	1,889			￦	2,559			￦	2,900			￦	1,928			US$	1,800
Trade and other receivables, net			6,373				5,780				4,854				5,327				5,814				5,427
Other financial assets			480				333				293				721				973				908
Current income tax assets			35				4				4				2				9				8
Inventories, net			674				419				617				455				642				599
Current assets held for sale			—				—				—				—				7				7
Other current assets			340				350				317				311				305				284
Total current assets			9,972				8,774				8,643				9,716				9,678				9,033
Non-current assets:
Trade and other receivables, net			1,739				1,759				704				709				829				774
Other financial assets			673				705				658				665				755				705
Property and equipment, net			16,387				16,468				14,479				14,312				13,562				12,659
Investment property, net			1,105				1,060				1,102				1,148				1,190				1,110
Intangible assets, net			3,827				3,544				2,600				3,023				2,633				2,457
Investments in jointly controlled entities and associates			364				339				270				284				279				261
Deferred income tax assets			707				1,079				845				701				712				665
Other non-current assets			76				72				102				106				107				99
Total non-current assets			24,878				25,025				20,761				20,948				20,067				18,730
Total assets		￦	34,850			￦	33,799			￦	29,404			￦	30,664			￦	29,745			US$	27,763
Liabilities and Equity:
Current liabilities:
Trade and other payables		￦	7,433			￦	6,428			￦	6,335			￦	7,140			￦	7,424			US$	6,929
Borrowings			3,021				2,956				1,726				1,820				1,573				1,469
Other financial liabilities			64				24				44				1				37				35
Current income tax liabilities			100				46				81				89				69				64
Provisions			115				111				104				96				78				73
Deferred income			144				144				98				36				18				17
Other current liabilities			348				279				311				342				258				241
Total current liabilities			11,224				9,987				8,699				9,524				9,458				8,828
Non-current liabilities:
Trade and other payables			1,108				944				669				1,188				1,001				935
Borrowings			8,463				9,860				6,909				6,301				5,110				4,770
Other financial liabilities			179				191				104				108				149				139
Retirement benefit liabilities			586				594				524				378				395				369
Provisions			134				106				91				101				125				117
Deferred income			148				147				96				85				92				86
Deferred income tax liabilities			169				144				130				138				128				120
Other non-current liabilities			2				39				27				59				237				220
Total non-current liabilities			10,789				12,025				8,550				8,358				7,238				6,756
Total liabilities		￦	22,013			￦	22,012			￦	17,249			￦	17,882			￦	16,696			US$	15,584
Equity attributable to owners of the Parent Company
Paid-in capital
Share capital		￦	1,564			￦	1,564			￦	1,564			￦	1,564			￦	1,564			US$	1,460
Share premium			1,440				1,440				1,440				1,440				1,440				1,344
Retained earnings			10,019				8,568				9,050				9,644				9,827				9,172
Accumulated other comprehensive income (expense)			25				26				14				(1	)			31				29
Other components of equity			(1,321	)			(1,261	)			(1,233	)			(1,218	)			(1,205	)			(1,125	)
			11,728				10,338				10,836				11,430				11,657				10,880
Non-controlling interest			1,110				1,449				1,320				1,353				1,392				1,299
Total equity			12,837				11,788				12,156				12,783				13,049				12,179
Total liabilities and equity		￦	34,850			￦	33,799			￦	29,404			￦	30,664			￦	29,745			US$	27,763

4

Consolidated statement of cash flow data

		Year Ended December 31,
		2013				2014				2015				2016				2017				2017 (1)
		(In billions of Won and millions of Dollars)
Net cash generated from operating activities		￦	4,111			￦	1,916			￦	4,230			￦	4,771			￦	3,878			US$	3,621
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities			(3,783	)			(3,171	)			(2,402	)			(3,485	)			(3,483	)			(3,252	)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities			(312	)			1,072				(1,164	)			(943	)			(1,363	)			(1,274	)

Operating Data

		As of December 31,
		2013				2014				2015				2016				2017
Lines installed (thousands) (2)			24,264				23,930				23,607				24,858				24,343
Lines in service (thousands) (2)			14,032				13,713				12,440				11,871				11,220
Lines in service per 100 inhabitants (2)			27.4				26.7				24.6				23.0				21.7
Mobile subscribers (thousands)			16,454				17,300				18,038				18,892				20,015
Broadband Internet subscribers (thousands)			8,067				8,129				8,328				8,516				8,781

(1)

For convenience, the Won amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars at the rate of ￦ 1,071.4 to US$1.00, the Market Average Exchange Rate in effect on December 29, 2017. This translation should not be construed as a representation that the Won amounts represent, have been or could be converted into U.S. dollars at that rate or any other rate.

(2)	Including public telephones.

Exchange Rate Information

The following table sets out information concerning the Market Average Exchange Rate for the periods and dates indicated:

Period		At End of Period				Average Rate (1)				High				Low
		(Won per US$1.00)
2011			1,153.3				1,108.1				1,199.5				1,049.5
2012			1,071.1				1,126.9				1,181.8				1,071.1
2013			1,055.3				1,095.0				1,159.1				1,051.5
2014			1,099.2				1,053.2				1,118.3				1,008.9
2015			1,172.0				1,131.5				1,203.1				1,068.1
2016			1,208.5				1,160.5				1,240.9				1,093.2
2017			1,071.4				1,130.8				1,208.5				1,071.4
October			1,125.0				1,131.6				1,145.7				1,124.7
November			1,082.4				1,105.0				1,121.2				1,082.4
December			1,071.4				1,085.8				1,093.4				1,071.4
2018 (through April 16)			1,070.0				1,071.0				1,094.3				1,057.6
January			1,071.5				1,066.7				1,071.5				1,061.3
February			1,071.0				1,079.6				1,094.3				1,068.0
March			1,066.5				1,071.9				1,081.9				1,064.3
April (through April 16)			1,070.0				1,064.0				1,070.0				1,057.6

Source: Seoul Money Brokerage Services, Ltd.

(1)	Represents the average of the Market Average Exchange Rates on each business day during the relevant period (or portion thereof).

Our monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currency are translated into Won at the Market Average Exchange Rate on the balance sheet dates, which were, for U.S. dollars, ￦ 1,172.0 to US$1.00, ￦ 1,208.5 to US$1.00 and ￦ 1,071.4 to US$1.00, at December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively.

Our consolidated financial statements are expressed in Won and, solely for the convenience of the reader, the consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2017

5

have been translated into United States dollars at the rate of ￦ 1,071.4 to US$1.00, the Market Average Exchange Rate in effect on December 29, 2017.

We make no representation that the Won or Dollar amounts contained in this annual report could have been or could be converted into Dollar or Won, as the case may be, at any particular rate or at all.

Item 3.B. Capitalization and Indebtedness

Not applicable.

Item 3.C. Reasons for the Offer and Use of Proceeds

Not applicable.

Item 3.D. Risk Factors

You should carefully consider the following factors.

Risks Relating to Our Company and Business

Competition in the Korean telecommunications industry is intense.

Competition in the telecommunications sector in Korea is intense. Business combinations in the telecommunications industry significantly changed the competitive landscape of the Korean telecommunications industry. Currently, we compete with two other integrated telecommunications service providers, SK Telecom Co., Ltd. (“SK Telecom”) and LG U+. SK Telecom acquired a controlling stake in Hanarotelecom Incorporated in 2008, which was renamed SK Broadband Co., Ltd. (“SK Broadband”). The acquisition enabled SK Telecom to provide fixed-line telecommunications, broadband Internet access and Internet Protocol Television (“IPTV”) services together with its mobile telecommunications services. In January 2010, LG Dacom Corporation (“LG Dacom”) and LG Powercom Co., Ltd. (“LG Powercom”) merged into LG Telecom Co., Ltd., which subsequently changed its name to LG U+. The merger enabled LG U+ to provide a similar range of services as SK Telecom and us. Our inability to compete against such competitors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, we face increasing competition from specific service providers, such as Internet phone service providers, Internet text message service providers, voice resellers and call-back service providers. In recent years, the increasing popularity of free messaging services, Internet phone and other communications services offered by Google, Facebook, Kakao Talk, Line and Skype has had a negative impact on demand for our telecommunications and text message services while creating additional data transmission usage by our Internet and mobile subscribers. Our inability to adapt to such changes in the competitive landscape could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Mobile Service . We provide mobile services based on Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (“W-CDMA”) technology (commonly known as the third-generation (“3G”) mobile telecommunications technology) and Long-Term Evolution (“LTE”) technology (commonly known as the fourth-generation (“4G”) mobile telecommunications technology). Competitors in the mobile telecommunications service industry are SK Telecom and LG U+. We had a market share of 31.4% as of December 31, 2017, making us the second largest mobile telecommunications service provider in Korea. SK Telecom had a market share of 47.8% as of December 31, 2017. Mobile subscribers are

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allowed to switch their service provider while retaining the same mobile phone number. Mobile service providers also grant subsidies to subscribers who purchase new handsets and agree to a minimum subscription period. Such mobile number portability and handset subsidies previously intensified competition among the mobile service providers and increased their marketing expenses. In addition, wide variation in subsidy amounts paid to subscribers led to concerns relating to consumer discrimination over time. Consequently, in order to enhance transparency in subsidy amounts paid to subscribers, the Act on Improvement of Mobile Telecommunication Device Distribution System (the “Handset Distribution Reform Act”), which imposed upper limit on the amount of handset subsidies offered by service providers, was enacted in October 2014. However, the upper limit on the handset subsidies was phased out on October 1, 2017. As a result, price competition through handset subsidies which became less prevalent after the passage of the Handset Distribution Reform Act may intensify again and such competition could lead to a decrease in our net profit margins.

Since 2011, SK Telecom, LG U+ and we have launched 4G mobile telecommunications services based on LTE technology, which has further intensified competition among the three companies and resulted in an increase in marketing expenses and capital expenditures related to implementing and providing 4G LTE services. We are also competing with the other two companies to introduce fifth-generation (“5G”) mobile telecommunications services as early as 2019, one year ahead of our initial plan. As SK Telecom, LG U+ and we continue to compete to improve network quality and to introduce new technologies in order to accommodate increased data usage of subscribers, we may incur significant expenses to acquire additional bandwidth spectrums and various fixed assets and to expand technological know-how and capacity. Furthermore, on April 10, 2018, to facilitate expedient establishment of 5G services infrastructure, the Government announced its initiatives to facilitate co-use and sharing of telecommunications infrastructure as follows: (i) we should permit fixed-line telecommunication service providers and mobile service providers (such as SK Telecom and LG U+) to co-use our telecommunications infrastructure necessary for provision of 5G services, (ii) the Government determined that we, SK Telecom and LG U+ possessed essential infrastructure with respect to the interval between the cable entry at a building and the initial occurrence of connection within the building and required that the three companies share such infrastructure throughout buildings in Korea with each other, and (iii) fixed-line telecommunications service providers and mobile service providers are required to participate in joint efforts to construct additional fixed-line and mobile network architecture. We believe that the continuing intense competition among major telecommunications operators in Korea may have a material adverse impact on our results of operations.

Fixed-line Telephone Services . Before December 1991, we were the sole provider of local, domestic long-distance and international long-distance telephone services in Korea. Since then, various competitors have entered the local, domestic long-distance and international long-distance telephone service markets in Korea, which have eroded our market shares. LG U+ and SK Broadband currently provide local, domestic long-distance and international long-distance telephone services. In addition, Sejong Telecom, Inc. (formerly, Onse Telecom Corporation) and SK Telink, Inc. currently provide domestic long-distance and international long-distance telephone services. We also compete with specific service providers, such as Internet phone service providers, voice resellers and call-back service providers that offer international long-distance service in Korea. While we offer our own Internet phone service, the entry of these and other potential competitors into the local, domestic long-distance and international long-distance telephone service markets has had and may continue to have a material adverse effect on our revenues and profitability from these services. As of December 31, 2017, we had a market share in local telephone service of 80.5% and a market share in domestic long distance service of 79.8%. Further increase in competition may decrease our market shares in such services. As part of our efforts to improve our operational efficiencies, we transferred all operations relating to fixed-line sales activities (including on-site sales, line activation, after service, and customer center operations) to our subsidiaries in 2014.

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Internet Services . The Korean broadband Internet access service market has experienced significant growth in the past decade. SK Broadband (formerly Hanarotelecom) entered the broadband market in 1999 offering both Hybrid Fiber Coaxial (“HFC”) and Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (“ADSL”) services. We also began offering broadband Internet access service in 1999, followed by Dreamline, Sejong and LG U+. In recent years, numerous cable television operators have also begun to offer HFC-based services at rates lower than ours. We had a market share of 41.3% as of December 31, 2017. As a result of having to compete with a number of competitors and the maturing of the Internet access service market, we currently encounter, and we expect to encounter, pressure to increase marketing expenses in the future.

The market for other Internet-related services in Korea, including IPTV and Internet phone services, is also very competitive. We anticipate that competition will continue to intensify as the usage and popularity of the Internet grows and as domestic and international competitors newly enter the Internet industry in Korea or expand product offerings such as gigabit Internet service. The substantial growth of the Internet industry in Korea has attracted many competitors and as a result may lead to increasing price competition to provide Internet-related services. Increased competition in the Internet industry could have a material adverse effect on the number of subscribers of our Internet-related service and on our results of operations.

Failure to renew existing bandwidth spectrum, acquire adequate additional bandwidth spectrum or use our bandwidth efficiently may adversely affect our mobile telecommunications business and results of operations.

One of the principal limitations on a wireless network’s subscriber capacity is the amount of bandwidth spectrum allocated to a service provider. We currently use 40 MHz of bandwidth in the 2.1 GHz spectrum, of which 20 MHz is used for our 4G LTE services and the remaining 20 MHz of bandwidth for our IMT-2000 services based on W-CDMA wireless network standards. We also use (i) 20 MHz of bandwidth in the 900 MHz spectrum and 35 MHz of bandwidth in the 1.8 GHz spectrum for our 4G LTE services; (ii) 20 MHz of bandwidth in the 1.8 GHz spectrum, which we acquired in May 2016 for our Wideband LTE-A services; and (iii) 30 MHz of bandwidth in the 2.3 GHz spectrum for our WiBro services. The MSIT announced its plan to auction additional bandwidth starting in 2018 to enable provision of 5G services and our ability to commercialize and provide 5G services depends in part on acquisition of adequate bandwidth spectrum at such auctions. For more information on our licenses to bandwidth spectrum, see “Item 4. Information on the Company—Item 4.D. Property, Plants and Equipment—Mobile Networks.”

The growth of our mobile telecommunications business and the increase in usage of wireless data transmission services have been significant factors in the increased utilization of our bandwidth, since wireless data applications are generally more bandwidth-intensive than voice services. The current trend of increasing data transmission use and the increasing sophistication of multimedia contents are likely to put additional strain on the bandwidth capacity of mobile service providers. In the event we are unable to maintain sufficient bandwidth capacity by renewing existing bandwidth spectrum, receiving additional bandwidth allocation, or cost-effectively implementing technologies that enhance bandwidth usage efficiency, our subscribers may perceive a general decrease in quality of mobile telecommunications services. No assurance can be given that bandwidth constraints will not adversely affect the growth of our mobile telecommunications business. Furthermore, we may be required to pay a substantial amount to acquire bandwidth capacity in order to meet increasing bandwidth demand, which may adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

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Introduction of new services, including our 4G LTE services and 5G services to be commercialized, poses challenges and risks to us.

The telecommunications industry is characterized by continual advances and improvements in telecommunications technology, and we have been continually researching and implementing technology upgrades and additional telecommunication services to maintain our competitiveness. For example, we have been building more advanced mobile telecommunications networks based on LTE technology, which is generally referred to as 4G technology, and commenced providing commercial 4G LTE services in the Seoul metropolitan area in January 2012, while subsequently expanding the coverage and increasing the transmission speed of our services thereafter. We have made extensive efforts to develop advanced technologies as well as to provide a variety of services with enhanced speed, latency and connectivity. Furthermore, we are also continually upgrading our broadband network to enable better fiber-to-the-home (“FTTH”) connection, which enhances data transmission speed and connection quality. FTTH is a telecommunication architecture in which a communication path is provided over optical fiber cables extending from the telecommunications operator’s switching equipment to the boundary of home or office. FTTH uses fiber optic cable, which is able to carry a high-bandwidth signal for longer distances without degradation. FTTH also enables us to deliver digital media content, such as IPTV, with higher stability.

In recent years, we have been making capital expenditures and investing in additional research and development to roll out 5G telecommunication services by 2019, one year earlier than our initial plan. However, no assurance can be given that our new services will gain broad market acceptance such that we will be able to derive revenues from such services to justify the license fee, capital expenditures and other investments required to provide such services . For example, in March 2005, we acquired a license to provide wireless broadband Internet access (“WiBro”) service, and commercially launched our service in June 2006 to expand the WiBro service coverage nationwide by 2011. However, the number of our WiBro subscribers have decreased in the recent years as more WiBro subscribers chose to access the Internet using our 4G LTE network rather than WiBro following the proliferation of 4G LTE services since 2013. If our new services do not gain broad market acceptance, our results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.

We may not be able to successfully pursue our strategy to acquire businesses and enter into joint ventures that complement or diversify our current business, and we may need to incur additional debt to finance such expansion activities.

One key aspect of our overall business strategy calls for acquisitions of businesses and entering into joint ventures that complement or diversify our current business. In March 2014, the investment business division of KT Capital Co., Ltd., including 3,059,560 common shares of BC Card Co., Ltd. that KT Capital Co., Ltd. held, was spun off and merged into KT Corporation. On August 20, 2015, we and our consolidated subsidiary, KT Hitel Co., Ltd., sold the entire 100% stake of KT Capital Co., Ltd. to JCF III K Holdings LLC for a total of ￦ 299 billion. In January 2011, we acquired 5,600,000 shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock with voting rights and convertible bonds that were convertible into 5,600,000 shares of common stock of KT Skylife Co., Ltd. (“KT Skylife”), a provider of satellite TV service which may also be packaged with our IPTV services, from Dutch Savings Holdings B.V. for approximately ￦ 246 billion. We exercised the conversion rights on the redeemable convertible preferred stock and the convertible bonds in March 2011, and owned a 50.3% interest in KT Skylife as of December 31, 2017. In March 2015, KT Media Hub Co., Ltd. was merged into KT Corporation to increase management efficiency and promote synergy among our existing businesses.

While we plan to continue our search for other suitable acquisition and joint venture opportunities, we cannot provide assurance that we will be able to identify additional attractive opportunities or that we will successfully complete the transactions, without encountering

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administrative, technical, political, financial or other difficulties, or at all. Even if we were to successfully complete the transactions, success of an acquisition or a joint venture depends largely on our ability to achieve the anticipated synergies, cost savings and growth opportunities from integrating the business of the acquired company or the joint venture with our business. There can be no assurance that we will achieve the anticipated benefits of the transaction, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Pursuing acquisitions or joint venture transactions also requires significant capital, and as we pursue further growth opportunities for the future, we may need to raise additional capital through incurring loans or through issuances of bonds or other securities in the international capital markets.

Disputes with our labor union may disrupt our business operations.

In the past, we have experienced opposition from our labor union for our strategy of restructuring to improve our efficiency and profitability by disposing of non-core businesses and reducing our employee base. Although we have not experienced any significant labor disputes or unrests in recent years, there can be no assurance that we will not experience labor disputes or unrests in the future, including extended protests and strikes, which could disrupt our business operations and have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

We also negotiate collective bargaining agreements every two years with our labor union and annually negotiate a wage agreement. Our current collective bargaining agreement expires on October 9, 2019. Although we have been able to reach collective bargaining agreements and wage agreements with our labor union in recent years, there can be no assurance that we will not experience labor disputes and unrests resulting from disagreements with the labor union in the future.

The Korean telecommunications and Internet protocol broadcasting industries are subject to extensive Government regulations, and changes in Government policy relating to these industries could have a material adverse effect on our operations and financial condition.

The Government, primarily through the MSIT and the KCC, has authority to regulate the telecommunications industry. Until March 2013, regulation of the telecommunications industry had mainly been the responsibility of the KCC. With the establishment of the newly created the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (the predecessor to the MSIT, the “MSIP”) on March 23, 2013, however, such regulatory responsibility has mostly been transferred to the MSIP (and later to MSIT). The MSIT’s policy is to promote competition in the Korean telecommunications markets through measures designed to prevent the dominant service provider in any such market from exercising its market power in such a way as to prevent the emergence and development of viable competitors.

Under the current Government regulations, if a network service provider has the largest market share for a specified type of service and its revenue from that service for the previous year exceeds a specific revenue amount set by the MSIT, it must obtain prior approval from the MSIT for the rates and the general terms for that service. Each year, the MSIT designates service providers whose rates and general terms of service must be approved by the MSIT. In 1997, the MSIT had designated us for local telephone service and SK Telecom for mobile service, and the MSIT, in consultation with the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, currently approves rates charged by us and SK Telecom for such services. The form of our standard agreement for providing local network service and each agreement for interconnection with other service providers must also be reported to the MSIT.

The MSIT currently does not regulate our domestic long-distance, international long-distance, broadband Internet access and mobile service rates, but the inability to freely set our local telephone service rates may hurt profits from such business and impede our ability to compete effectively against

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our competitors. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—Item 4.B. Business Overview—Regulation—Rates.” In addition, the MSIT may periodically announce public policy guidelines or suggestions that we take into consideration in setting our tariffs for non-regulated services. In March 2015, we completely abolished our activation fee relating to our mobile services. In July 2016, we lowered our early termination fee for our broadband Internet access service, Internet phone or IPTV or such products bundled with our fixed-line telephone service. On December 22, 2017, we started to provide additional tariff reductions of ￦ 11,000 per month to certain subscribers on Government welfare. In July 2017, the MSIT announced its plan to adopt “universal” mobile subscription fees sometime in 2018 in connection with the Government’s efforts to reduce mobile service fees paid by individuals. According to the draft version of the proposed revision to the Telecommunications Business Act, subject to approval by the National Assembly, the dominant network service provider (SK Telecom) shall be required to provide a mobile subscription plan priced at ￦ 20,000 per month (at a significant discount to currently available mobile subscription plans) which allows data use of between 1 and 1.4 GB and 200 call minutes. Furthermore, in response to a social interest group’s lawsuit against the MSIT to lower consumers’ telecommunication bills, it is expected that, in May 2018, the MSIT will make public disclosure of previously non-public regulatory financial reports and other supporting and evaluation materials submitted by the network service providers (including us) for determining tariffs of various 2G and 3G mobile subscription plans for a six-year period ending in May 2011. There can be no assurance that we will not adopt other tariff-reducing measures in the future to comply with the Government’s public policy guidelines or suggestions.

The MSIT may revoke our licenses or suspend any of our businesses if we fail to comply with its rules, regulations and corrective orders, including the rules restricting beneficial ownership and control or any violation of the conditions of our licenses. Alternatively, in lieu of suspension of our business, the MSIT may levy a monetary penalty of up to 3.0% of the average of our annual revenue for the preceding three fiscal years. For example, on March 12, 2015, the KCC imposed a fine of ￦ 870 million for violation of restrictions on handset subsidies relating to our compensation program for used handsets. On June 24, 2015, the KCC imposed a fine of ￦ 52 million for violating privacy related regulations and undermining consumer interests. On July 31, 2015 and January 19, 2016, the KCC imposed a fine of ￦ 350 million and ￦ 560 million, respectively, on us for infringing upon consumer interests by advertising false and exaggerated information about bundled products. On March 8, 2016, the KCC imposed a fine of ￦ 32 million on us for offering excessively reduced rates and waivers to certain customers. On December 6, 2016, the KCC imposed a combined fine of approximately ￦ 10.7 billion on SK Telecom, LG U+, SK Broadband, t-broad, D’live, CJ HelloVision and us (our fine being approximately ￦ 2.3 billion) and ordered to take corrective measures for providing excessive promotional gifts to bundled products customers. In April 2017, the Fair Trade Commission imposed a combined fine of approximately ￦ 47 million on us for failing to include developments relating to our management in our public disclosures. In October 2017, the Fair Trade Commission imposed a fine of approximately ￦ 360 million on us for not including transactions between our affiliates in our public disclosures. On January 24, 2018, the KCC imposed a combined fine of approximately ￦ 50.6 billion on SK Telecom, LG U+ and us (our fine being approximately ￦ 12.5 billion) for violation of regulations relating to handset sales in the form of wholesale, online sale and others. For more information about the penalties imposed for violating Government regulations, see “Item 8. Financial Information—Item 8.A. Consolidated Statements and Other Financial Information—Legal Proceedings.” The revocation of our licenses, suspension of our business or imposition of monetary penalties by the MSIT could have a material adverse effect on our business.

On October 1, 2014, the Handset Distribution Reform Act went into effect. The Handset Distribution Reform Act regulates, among other matters, the sale and subsidies of mobile devices such as smartphones, with one of its purposes being to induce telecommunication operators to compete in lowering the costs of communications and encourage the manufacturers to reduce handset factory prices, while improving service quality. Under the Handset Distribution Reform Act, consumers may not

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be discriminated in terms of subsidies based on their age, place of residence or monthly subscription plan when using their existing mobile phones, buying a new phone or switching their mobile carriers. Furthermore, everyone, regardless of their status, is entitled to receive either a handset subsidy for the purchase of mobile phone models that were launched within the last 15 months, or a tariff discount (with the current discount rate set at 25%, effective since September 15, 2017). Since April 8, 2015, the maximum amount of handset subsidy that telecommunications operators and handset manufacturers may offer was ￦ 330,000. The maximum amount of the handset subsidy was phased out on October 1, 2017. On September 15, 2017, in compliance with the policy initiatives announced by the MSIT, we increased the maximum tariff discount to 25% from the prior 20% (which had been in effect since April 24, 2015). According to the Government, excessive handset subsidies may cause mobile subscribers to subscribe to more expensive monthly plans in return for greater handset subsidies or may cause handset vendors to provide discriminatory subsidies based on consumers’ age, residence and subscription plan, among others. It was reported that the Government plans to introduce measures to curb excessive competition for handset subsidies such as guidelines on subsidies for online handset sales and requirement for public disclosure of the portion or amount of handset subsidies provided by each party involved in handset sales.

The Government also sets the policies regarding the use of radio frequencies and allocates the spectrum of radio frequencies used for wireless telecommunications by an auction process or by a planned allocation. For a discussion of the Government’s recent policies and practices on bandwidth spectrum allocation, see “—Item 3.D. Risk Factors—Failure to renew existing bandwidth spectrum, acquire adequate additional bandwidth spectrum or use our bandwidth efficiently may adversely affect our mobile telecommunications business and results of operations.” The new allocations of bandwidth could increase competition among wireless service providers, which may have an adverse effect on our business.

We also plan to put more focus on the Internet protocol (“IP”) media market, and we began offering IPTV services in November 2008. IPTV is a service which combines video-on-demand services with real-time high definition broadcasting via broadband networks. The MSIT and the KCC have the authority to regulate IPTV services. Under the Internet Multimedia Broadcasting Services Act, anyone intending to engage in the IPTV services business must first obtain a license from the MSIT. Moreover, anyone intending to provide linear channel programs focused on news or contents that generally combine news, culture entertainment, and any other similar contents with IPTV providers, must obtain approval from the KCC. Furthermore, anyone intending to provide contents relating to the introduction of consumer products and other similar marketing linear channel programs with IPTV providers must obtain additional approval from the MSIT. In addition, KT Skylife (formerly Korea Digital Satellite Broadcasting Co., Ltd.), which became our consolidated subsidiary starting in January 2011, offers satellite TV services, which may also be packaged with our IPTV services. KT Skylife is also subject to regulation by the MSIT and the KCC pursuant to the Korea Broadcasting Act. In March 2015, amendments to the Internet Multimedia Broadcasting Services Act were promulgated. Under such amendments, a single pay TV operator (including its affiliates) may not have more than one-third of the market share of all pay TV subscribers in Korea. The restriction on market share is in effect until June 27, 2018, subject to the Government’s decision to renew the market share restriction or phase out the restriction as originally planned.

Government policies and regulations relating to the above as well as other regulations involving the Korean telecommunications and IP broadcasting industries (including as a result of the implementation of free trade agreements between Korea and other countries, including the United States and the European Union) could impose restrictions on our business operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our operations and financial condition, and may also change in ways that could materially and adversely affect us. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—Item 4.B. Business Overview—Regulation.”

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The pending legal cases against Mr. Suk-chae Lee, our former chief executive officer, and other former executive officers or directors—and related adverse publicity—could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation and stock price.

In April 2014, the Seoul Central District prosecutor’s office charged Mr. Suk-chae Lee, our former chief executive officer who resigned in November 2013, with embezzlement and breach of fiduciary duty. Mr. Il Yung Kim, our former standing director and former president of the KT Corporate Center, was charged as a co-conspirator in the breach of fiduciary duty by Mr. Lee, and Mr. Yu-yeol Seo, our former president of Home Business Group, was charged as a co-conspirator in Mr. Lee’s embezzlement. On September 24, 2015, the Seoul District Court acquitted Mr. Lee of the charges of embezzlement and breach of fiduciary duty. Mr. Kim and Mr. Seo were also acquitted of the conspiracy charges. The prosecution has appealed the judgments and on May 27, 2016, the Seoul High Court found Mr. Lee and Mr. Seo guilty of embezzlement and sentenced them to 18 months of prison term, to be suspended for 2 years, for having embezzled and created off-the-books funds of ￦ 1.1 billion between 2009 and 2013, using such funds for personal purposes such as payments at weddings and funerals of Mr. Lee’s friends and acquaintances and Mr. Seo’s living and entertainment expenses. However, Mr. Lee and Mr. Kim were acquitted on the charge of breach of fiduciary duty. These judgments have been appealed by the prosecution as well as by Mr. Lee and Mr. Seo to the Supreme Court of Korea, which, on May 30, 2017, confirmed the acquittal of Mr. Lee and Mr. Kim on the charge of breach of fiduciary duty, and vacated the appellate judgment against Mr. Lee and Mr. Seo on the charge of embezzlement and remanded the case back to the Seoul High Court. On April 26, 2018, the Seoul High Court acquitted Mr. Lee and Mr. Seo on the charge of embezzlement.

The legal cases against Mr. Lee, Mr. Seo, and Mr. Kim do not involve charges of wrongdoing by us. Nevertheless, an adverse determination in any such case or proceeding may harm our reputation and adversely affect the trading price of our shares. The outcome of any related claims, investigations and proceedings is inherently uncertain and there can be no assurance that any further developments in the legal proceedings against Mr. Lee, Mr. Seo, and Mr. Kim, including adverse publicity, will not adversely affect our business, reputation or stock price.

Our charitable or political donations, employment of certain individuals and engagement of an advertising agency connected to a scandal involving Ms. Soon-sil Choi, a confidante of former President Geun-hye Park, and other incidents and allegations could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation and stock price.

In March 2017, the Constitutional Court of Korea found that many Korean corporations, including the Company, made donations to two non-profit foundations, Mir Foundation and K-Sports Foundation, at former President Park’s request. Our contributions comprised ￦ 1.1 billion of the total ￦ 48.6 billion given to Mir Foundation and ￦ 700 million of the total ￦ 28.8 billion given to K-Sports Foundation. The Constitutional Court also found that an aide of former President Park, at the direction of the former President, on several occasions asked our chief executive officer to hire (and later to promote) two individuals, Mr. Dong-Soo Lee and Ms. Hye-Sung Shin: Mr. Lee was hired and later promoted to the head of a business unit in charge of our marketing and advertisement campaigns and Ms. Shin was hired to another position in the same business unit. Subsequently, the same presidential aide also requested that Mr. Lee and our other officers award advertising contracts to Playground Communications Co., Ltd. (“Playground”), an advertising agency over which Ms. Soon-sil Choi, a confidante of former President Park, effectively owns 70% equity interest, according to the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court further held that the companies receiving the purported “requests” from former President Park’s aide appeared to have felt immense pressure to comply with the requests and could not easily have rejected them. Playground was awarded seven advertising contracts for a total of approximately ￦ 6.8 billion in 2016, amounting to approximately 3.7% of our annual advertising spending in 2016. In 2016, our payments to Playground amounted to approximately

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￦ 517 million. We have not awarded additional advertising contract to Playground since September 2016, and Mr. Lee and Ms. Shin resigned from the Company in November 2016 and May 2016, respectively.

In April 2017, the Korean prosecution indicted former President Park on charges of bribery, coercion and abuse of power, among others. On April 6, 2018, the Seoul Central Court sentenced the former President to 24 years of prison term and monetary fine of ￦ 18 billion, having found the former President guilty on many of the charges, including the coercion charges relating to the same events underlying the Constitutional Court decisions described above: (i) employment and promotions of Mr. Lee and Ms. Shin at KT Corporation, (ii) entry into advertising contracts with Playground and (iii) donations to Mir Foundation and K-Sports Foundation by us and other Korean corporations. The prosecution appealed the trial court’s decision.

On January 18, 2018, the Korean prosecution indicted Mr. Byung-Hun Jun, a former member of the National Assembly, for charges of bribery, corruption and coercion, among others. One of the allegations is that Mr. Jun, during his term as a member of the former Science, ICT, Future Planning, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee (currently the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee) of the National Assembly, solicited donations or financial sponsorship from various corporations, including us, to an organization where he used to serve as the president. While the prosecution indicted Mr. Jun for these allegations, no indictment or charges of wrongdoing were brought against us or any of our executives or employees in connection with Mr. Jun’s indictment.

In January 2018, the Korean police commenced an investigation in connection with the allegations that our current and former executives and employees violated the Political Funds Act of Korea, by making certain donations to various lawmakers using corporate funds. This investigation is currently ongoing.

We cannot be certain at this time how the above-described matters and the publicity around them will develop. While we have not been charged with wrongdoing in connection with the above-mentioned matters, related allegations, claims, investigations and proceedings remain a possibility, and we cannot provide any assurances as to likely outcomes. There can be no assurance that any further developments relating to the above-mentioned matters, including adverse publicity, will not adversely affect our business, reputation or stock price.

The reported investigation, insolvency proceedings of and any adverse publicity associated with our previous subsidiary, KT ENGCORE, could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation and stock price.

An employee of KT ENGCORE Co., Ltd. (formerly known as KT ENS Corporation until April 2015) (“KT ENGCORE”), our consolidated subsidiary until August 2014, and several companies, some of which are KT ENGCORE’s subcontractors, allegedly worked together to forge documents, including a forged proof of accounts receivable, to incur borrowings, of which ￦ 290 billion remains unpaid, from 16 Korean banks since 2008 in over 460 transactions, which were allegedly secured by the forged accounts receivable and endorsed by KT ENGCORE. KT ENGCORE’s management neither had knowledge of nor approved such transactions. On February 11, 2014, police raided the offices of the subcontractors in connection with their investigation of the loans. Upon discovery of the incident, KT ENGCORE immediately suspended the employee in question without pay, pending the results of the investigations for any further disciplinary actions. The employee and several other persons involved in the incident were sentenced to prison terms by the Seoul Central District Court in August 2014 and by the appellate court subsequently.

In March 2014, KT ENGCORE filed for court receivership with the Seoul Central District Court, based on its inability to pay approximately ￦ 49 billion in commercial paper that became due after early

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redemption rights were exercised. The commercial paper had been issued in connection with construction of a solar power plant by a contractor of the project and guaranteed by KT ENGCORE. KT ENGCORE faced difficulties in preventing such exercise of redemption rights following the above incident, and we declined to provide additional financial support to KT ENGCORE to repay the redeemed commercial paper. In August 2014, the Seoul Central District Court approved KT ENGCORE’s restructuring plan, and determined that KT ENGCORE is only responsible for 15% to 20% of the borrowings which remain unpaid, or approximately ￦ 46 billion. Pursuant to the plan, KT ENGCORE is expected to repay all of its currently outstanding obligations. The banks had appealed the decision of the Seoul Central District Court, and it was determined that KT ENGCORE is responsible for 30% to 40% of the borrowings which remain unpaid. The court decision was appealed and in February 2017, the Seoul High Court found that KT ENGCORE is responsible for 40% of the borrowings which remain unpaid. Such appellate court decision was subsequently affirmed by the Supreme Court of Korea in June 2017. While KT ENGCORE’s restructuring is unlikely to have a material impact on our results of operations or financial condition on a consolidated basis, as KT ENGCORE has not been our consolidated subsidiary since 2014 due to its filing for court receivership, and our interest in KT ENGCORE was classified as available-for-sale securities, any future legal proceedings against KT ENGCORE and/or us may lead to significant losses. Such losses, as well as any adverse publicity associated with the incident, could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation and stock price.

The data breach incidents involving us in recent years have resulted in government investigations and civil litigation, and if our efforts to protect personal information of our subscribers are unsuccessful, future issues may result in further government enforcement actions and civil litigation and may significantly impact our results of operation and reputation.

The nature of our business involves the receipt and storage of personal information of our subscribers. The uninterrupted operation of our information systems and confidentiality of the customer information that resides in such systems are critical to our successful operations. As such, we have a program in place to detect and respond to data security incidents. However, even though we may take all steps we believe are necessary to protect personal information, hardware, software or applications we develop or procure from third parties may contain defects in design, manufacturing defects or other problems that could unexpectedly compromise information security. Unauthorized parties may also attempt to circumvent our security measures to gain access to our systems or facilities through fraud, trickery or other forms of deceiving our employees, contractors and temporary staff. In addition, because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or sabotage systems change frequently and may be difficult to detect for long periods of time, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventive measures.

For example, in July 2012, the police arrested two third-party individuals in connection with the alleged theft of personal information relating to approximately 8.7 million of our mobile phone subscribers. The individuals in question stole personal information through a series of hackings starting from February 2012 into our New Service and Technology Evolution Program (“N-STEP”), our mobile customer information system. Since the incident, approximately 29,800 of our mobile phone subscribers filed a total of 16 lawsuits against us in connection with the N-STEP hackings, alleging that we failed to protect their personal information, and are seeking total damages of approximately ￦ 15 billion. From August 2014 to October 2016, various district courts have awarded damages of ￦ 100,000 per plaintiff for 14 of the cases involving a total of approximately 29,000 of the subscribers, resulting in damages of approximately ￦ 3 billion to us, while the remaining two trials are currently ongoing at various district courts. We have appealed the district courts’ decisions. We won three of the appeals without further appellate proceedings. The other appeal which we won has been appealed to

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the Supreme Court. We lost one of the appeals and we appealed such decision to the Supreme Court. The other nine appeals are currently ongoing at the Seoul High Court or the Seoul Central Court.

Furthermore, in March 2014, the police arrested three third-party individuals in connection with their alleged theft of personal information relating to approximately 9.8 million of our subscribers. The individuals in question stole the personal information of our subscribers through a series of hackings into our main homepage starting from February 2014. Since the incident, approximately 15,000 subscribers filed 22 lawsuits against us in connection with the information theft, seeking total damages of approximately ￦ 7 billion. From November 2016 to January 2018, we won 17 trials, lost two trials and the remaining three trials are currently ongoing at various district courts. The plaintiffs of nine of the 17 cases have appealed the district courts’ decisions to the Seoul High Court or the Seoul District Court. We appealed the district courts’ decisions of the two trials where we lost. In June 2014, we were fined ￦ 85 million by the KCC and were ordered to take corrective measures in connection with the most recent hacking incident. We filed an administrative appeal in August 2014 in connection with the KCC fine and prevailed. The KCC appealed the administrative decision and the appeal is currently ongoing at the Seoul High Court.

We are unable to predict with any meaningful degree of certainty the outcome of these incidents at this time, including the scope of investigations or the maximum potential exposure. However, if we experience additional significant data security breaches or fail to detect and appropriately respond to significant data security breaches, we could be subject to additional government enforcement actions, regulatory sanctions and litigation in the future. In addition, our mobile subscribers could lose confidence in our ability to protect their information, which could cause them to discontinue using our services altogether. Furthermore, adverse final determinations, decisions or resolutions regarding such matters could encourage other parties to bring related claims and actions against us. Accordingly, the outcome of these incidents may materially and adversely impact our business, reputation, results of operations and financial condition.

We are subject to various laws and regulations in Korea and other jurisdictions, including the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act of Korea and other laws and regulations governing our business activities and acts of our management and employees.

Our business operations and acts of our management, employees and other relevant parties are subject to various laws and regulations in and outside Korea. These laws are complicated and sometimes conflicting and our efforts to comply with these laws could increase our cost of doing business, restrict our business activities and expose us or our employees to legal sanctions and liabilities.

The Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act provides for various regulations and restrictions on large business groups enforced by the Korea Fair Trade Commission to prohibit or restrict actions that impede competition and fair trade. The Korea Fair Trade Commission designated us as a large business group under the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act on April 1, 2002. Our business relationships and transactions with our subsidiaries, affiliates and other companies within the KT group are subject to ongoing scrutiny by the Fair Trade Commission as to, among other things, whether such relationships and transactions constitute undue financial support among companies of the same business group. We are also subject to the fair trade regulations limiting debt guarantees for other domestic member companies of the same group and cross-shareholdings among domestic member companies of the same group, as well as requiring disclosure of the status of such cross-shareholdings. Additionally, we are subject to a prohibition, in effect since July 25, 2014, against circular shareholding among any three or more entities within our business group. For example, in 2015, we were fined ￦ 2 billion by the Korea Fair Trade Commission for using monopolistic status to exclude competitors in the corporate messaging business. However, the sentence was revoked by the

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Seoul High Court in 2018, subject to the disposition by the Supreme Court of Korea. In 2016, we were issued consent orders by the Korea Fair Trade Commission for unfairly comparative advertisements on quality and coverage of our LTE service. Any future determination by the Korea Fair Trade Commission that we have engaged in transactions that violate the fair trade laws and regulations may result in fines or other punitive measures and may have a material adverse effect on our reputation and our business.

Certain of our business activities or acts of our management, employees or other relevant parties, including, without limitation, investigations, claims or legal proceedings involving our former chief executive officer Mr. Lee and incidents relating to the employment of certain executives and execution of certain advertising contracts described above, may raise concerns about compliance with laws of Korea and other relevant jurisdictions, including the United States. These various and sometimes conflicting laws and regulations include the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and other laws prohibiting corrupt payments to governmental officials and commercial counterparties. Compliance with complex Korean and foreign laws and regulations that apply to our operations increases our cost of doing business. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations could also result in fines, penalties and criminal sanctions against us, our officers, or our employees, prohibitions on conduct of our business, and damage to our reputation. Criminal or civil investigation by Korean or other authorities may result in a material impact to our business or reputation, which in turn could impact our relationships with certain of our customers and business partners, and which potentially could give rise to additional regulatory inquiries in Korea or elsewhere. Defending us against any allegations or charges of wrongdoing also could be both costly and time-consuming, and could significantly divert the efforts and resources of our management and other personnel. There can be no assurance that we or our employees and other relevant parties will always be in full compliance with these laws and regulations, or that future legal or regulatory developments applicable to us will not have an adverse impact on our business, reputation or stock price.

Concerns that radio frequency emissions may be linked to various health concerns could adversely affect our business and we could be subject to litigation relating to these health concerns.

In the past, allegations that serious health risks may result from the use of wireless telecommunications devices or other transmission equipment have adversely affected share prices of some wireless telecommunications companies in the United States. In May 2011, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (“IARC”) announced that it has classified radiofrequency electromagnetic fields associated with wireless phone use as possibly carcinogenic to humans, based on an increased risk for glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer. The IARC is part of the World Health Organization that conducts research on the causes of human cancer and the mechanisms of carcinogenesis, and aims to develop scientific strategies for cancer control. We cannot assure you that such health concerns will not adversely affect our business. Several class action and personal injury lawsuits have been filed in the United States against several wireless phone manufacturers and carriers, asserting product liability, breach of warranty and other claims relating to radio transmissions to and from wireless phones. Certain of these lawsuits have been dismissed. In addition, to protect pre-school and elementary school children, the Office of Education in Gyeonggi-do, one of Korea’s highly populated provinces, implemented an ordinance named “Protective Ordinance for Social Groups Vulnerable to Electromagnetic Radiation” in April 2016. The ordinance prohibits installation of cellular towers near pre-schools and elementary schools in Gyeonggi-do. In December 2016, the minister of the MSIP filed a petition with the Supreme Court to invalidate the ordinance. The provincial assembly of Gyeonggi-do decided to file a criminal complaint against the minister of the MSIP. In December 2017, the Supreme Court of Korea ruled that the ordinance is invalid as the ordinance has no legal basis. We could be subject to liability or incur significant costs defending lawsuits brought by our subscribers or other parties who claim to have been harmed by or as a result of our services. In

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addition, the actual or perceived risk of wireless telecommunications devices could have an adverse effect on us by reducing our number of subscribers or our usage per subscriber.

Depreciation of the value of the Won against the Dollar and other major foreign currencies may have a material adverse effect on the results of our operations and on the prices of our securities.

Substantially all of our revenues are denominated in Won. Depreciation of the Won may materially affect the results of our operations because, among other things, it causes an increase in the amount of Won required by us to make interest and principal payments on our foreign-currency-denominated debt, the costs of telecommunications equipment that we purchase from overseas sources, net settlement payments to foreign carriers and certain payments related to our derivative instruments entered into for foreign exchange risk hedging purposes. Of the ￦ 6,684 billion total book value of debentures and borrowings outstanding as of December 31, 2017, ￦ 2,062 billion was denominated in foreign currencies. The interest rates of such debt denominated in foreign currencies ranged from 0.48% (Japanese Yen 15 billion bond due 2018) to 6.50% (US$100 million fixed rate notes due 2034 issued under our suspended medium-term note program). Upon identification and evaluation of our currency risk exposures, we, having considered various circumstances, enter into derivative financial instruments to try to manage some of such risks. Although the impact of exchange rate fluctuations has in the past been partially mitigated by such strategies, our results of operations have historically been affected by exchange rate fluctuations and there can be no assurance that such strategies will be sufficient to reduce or eliminate the adverse impact of such fluctuations in the future. See “—Item 3.A. Selected Financial Data—Exchange Rate Information”, “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—Item 5.B. Liquidity and Capital Resources” and “Item 11. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk—Exchange Rate Risk.”

Fluctuations in the exchange rate between the Won and the Dollar will also affect the Dollar equivalent of the Won price of our ordinary shares on the KRX Korea Composite Stock Price Index (“KOSPI”) Market and, as a result, will likely affect the market price of the ADSs. These fluctuations will also affect the Dollar conversion by the depositary for the American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) of cash dividends, if any, paid in Won on our ordinary shares represented by the ADSs.

We may be exposed to potential claims for unpaid wages and become subject to additional labor costs arising from the Supreme Court of Korea’s interpretation of ordinary wages.

Under the Labor Standards Act, an employee’s “ordinary wage” is a key legal construct used to calculate many statutory benefits and entitlements in Korea. Increasing or decreasing the amount of compensation included in employees’ ordinary wages has the effect of increasing or decreasing the amounts of various statutory entitlements that are calculated based on “ordinary wage,” such as overtime premium pay. Under guidelines previously issued by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, prior to the Supreme Court decision described below, an employee’s ordinary wage included base salary and certain fixed monthly allowances for work performed overtime during night shifts and holidays. Prior to the Supreme Court of Korea’s decision described below, companies in Korea had typically interpreted these guidelines as excluding from the scope of ordinary wages fixed bonuses that are paid other than on a monthly basis, namely on a bi-monthly, quarterly or biannual basis.

On December 18, 2013, the Supreme Court of Korea ruled that regular bonuses (including those that are paid other than on a monthly basis) shall be deemed ordinary wages if these bonuses are paid “regularly” and “uniformly” on a “fixed basis” notwithstanding differential amounts based on seniority. Under this decision, any collective bargaining agreement or labor-management agreement which attempts to exclude such regular bonuses from employees’ ordinary wages will be deemed void for violation of the mandatory provisions of Korean law. However, the Supreme Court of Korea further

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ruled that, in certain limited situations, an employee’s claim of underpayment under the expanded scope of ordinary wages for the past three years may be denied based on the principles of good faith, even though the claim is raised within the statute of limitations period. Following this Supreme Court decision, the Ministry of Employment and Labor issued a Guideline for Labor and Management on Ordinary Wages on January 23, 2014. A bill for amendment to the Labor Standard Act, which includes a definition of “ordinary wages” as “entire money and valuables determined in advance to be provided to the employee by the employer as wages, regardless of its name, in exchange of the prescribed or total work of the employee,” is currently pending at the sub-committee level of the National Assembly.

While we currently are not subject to any claims of underpayment from our current or former employees, the Supreme Court decision may result in additional labor costs for us in the form of additional payments required under the expanded scope of ordinary wages, both those incurred during the past three years and those to be incurred in the future. Any such additional payments may have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operation.

Risks Relating to Korea

Korea is our most important market, and our current business and future growth could be materially and adversely affected if economic or political conditions in Korea deteriorate.

Substantially all of our operations, customers and assets are located in Korea. Accordingly, the performance and successful fulfillment of our operational strategies are necessarily dependent on the overall Korean economy and the resulting impact on the demand for telecommunications services. The economic indicators in Korea in recent years have shown mixed signs of growth and uncertainty, and future growth of the Korean economy is subject to many factors beyond our control, including developments in the global economy and domestic political scandals.

The Korean economy is closely integrated with, and is significantly affected by, developments in the global economy and financial markets. Substantial uncertainties remain for the global and Korean economy in the form of continued tightening of the U.S. monetary policy, continued fiscal and financial challenges for the European, U.S. and global economies, fluctuations in oil and commodity prices, trade tensions involving Korea’s trading partners, signs of cooling of the Chinese economy and a rise of military and political tension in the Middle East, the Eastern Europe and former members of the Soviet Union. Accordingly, the overall prospects for the Korean and global economy in 2018 and beyond remain uncertain. Any future deterioration of the global economy may have an adverse impact on the Korean economy, which in turn could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. As Korea’s economy is highly dependent on the health and direction of the global economy, investors’ reactions to developments in one country can have adverse effects on the securities price of companies in other countries. Factors that determine economic and business cycles of the Korean or global economy are for the most part beyond our control and inherently uncertain. In light of the high level of interdependence of the global economy, any of the foregoing developments could have a material adverse effect on the Korean economy and financial markets, and in turn on the our business and profitability.

Developments that could have an adverse impact on Korea’s economy in the future also include:

•

continued volatility or deterioration in Korea’s credit and capital markets;

•

difficulties in the financial sectors in Europe, China and elsewhere and increased sovereign default risks in selected countries and the resulting adverse effects on the global financial markets;

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•

global market volatility in connection with “Brexit,” the United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union in a referendum held in June 2016 and the continuing negotiation between the United Kingdom and the European Union to complete the United Kingdom’s exit by mid-2019;

•

adverse changes or volatility in foreign currency reserve levels, commodity prices (including oil prices), exchange rates (including fluctuation of the U.S. dollar, the Euro or Japanese Yen exchange rates or revaluation of the Chinese Renminbi), interest rates, inflation rates or stock markets;

•

increasing levels of household debt;

•

continuing adverse conditions in the economies of countries and regions that are important export markets for Korea, such as the United States, Europe, Japan and China, or in emerging market economies in Asia or elsewhere;

•

further decreases in the market prices of Korean real estate;

•

increasing delinquencies and credit defaults by consumer and small- and medium-sized enterprise borrowers;

•

declines in consumer confidence and a slowdown in consumer spending;

•

social and labor unrest;

•

increases in social expenditures to support an aging population in Korea or decreases in economic productivity due to the declining population size in Korea;

•

the economic impact of any pending or future free trade agreements;

•

geo-political uncertainty and risk of further attacks by terrorist groups around the world;

•

the occurrence of severe health epidemics in Korea or other parts of the world, including the recent Ebola, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and Zika virus outbreaks;

•

deterioration in economic or diplomatic relations between Korea and its trading partners or allies, including deterioration resulting from territorial or trade disputes or disagreements in foreign policy and the recent diplomatic tension between Korea and China with respect to the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in Korea;

•

political uncertainty or increasing strife among or within political parties in Korea, and political gridlock within the Government or in the legislature, which prevent or disrupt timely and effective policy making;

•

natural disasters that have a significant adverse economic or other impact on Korea or its major trading partners;

•

hostilities or political or social tensions involving countries in the Middle East and North Africa and any material disruption in the supply of oil or significant decrease or increase in the price of oil; and

•

an increase in the level of tensions or an outbreak of hostilities between North Korea and Korea or the United States.

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Escalations in tensions with North Korea could have an adverse effect on us.

Relations between Korea and North Korea have been tense throughout Korea’s modern history. The level of tension between the two Koreas has fluctuated and may increase abruptly as a result of future events. In particular, there continues to be uncertainty regarding the long-term stability of North Korea’s political leadership since the succession of Kim Jong-un to power following the death of his father in December 2011, which has raised concerns with respect to the political and economic future of the region. In February 2017, Kim Jong-un’s half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, was reported to have been assassinated in an international airport in Malaysia. On April 27, 2018, Kim Jong-un and the President of South Korea attended a summit held in the Demilitarized Zone of the Korean peninsula.

In addition, there have been heightened security concerns in recent years stemming from North Korea’s nuclear weapon and long-range missile programs as well as its hostile military actions against Korea. Some of the significant incidents in recent years include the following:

•

North Korea renounced its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in January 2003 and conducted three rounds of nuclear tests between October 2006 to February 2013, which increased tensions in the region and elicited strong objections worldwide. Subsequently, North Korea continued to engage in provocative behaviors. In January 2016, North Korea announced that it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb, its fourth nuclear test and allegedly first test using hydrogen, which is more explosive than plutonium. In February 2016, North Korea tested its intercontinental ballistic missile technology and launched a long-range missile, which it claimed to have launched a satellite into orbit. In response, the Government condemned the provocations and flagrant violations of relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and withdrew Korean personnel from the inter-Korea Kaesong industrial complex (the “Complex”) and announced its closing. In March 2016, the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a resolution condemning North Korea’s actions and significantly expanding the scope of sanctions applicable to North Korea. In September 2016, North Korea announced that it had successfully tested a nuclear warhead that could be mounted on ballistic missiles. In response, the Government condemned the test, and in November 2016, the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a resolution imposing additional sanctions on North Korea. In March 2017, North Korea launched four midrange missiles aimed at the U.S. military bases in Japan, which landed off the east coast of the Korean peninsula. In late March 2017, the United States sanctioned 11 North Korean individuals and one North Korean coal company for their ties to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. In April 2017, North Korea launched two ballistic missiles which landed off the east coast of the Korean peninsula. In response to the missile launches, representatives of the Government, the United States and China expressed their plans to impose stronger sanctions on North Korea. In July 2017, North Korea conducted two intercontinental ballistic missile tests which displayed further development of its long-range ballistic missile capabilities that potentially enable it to target certain areas of the United States as well as other neighboring countries in the Asia-Pacific region. In response, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted stronger sanctions against North Korea. In September 2017, North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test, prompting the United Nations Security Council to adopt additional sanctions against North Korea. In November 2017, North Korea conducted a test launch of another intercontinental ballistic missile, which, due to its improved size, power and range of distance, may potentially enable North Korea to target the United States mainland.

•

In August 2015, two Korean soldiers were injured in a landmine explosion near the South Korean demilitarized zone. Claiming the landmines were set by North Koreans, the South Korean army re-initiated its propaganda program toward North Korea utilizing loudspeakers near the demilitarized zone. In retaliation, the North Korean army fired

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artillery rounds on the loudspeakers, resulting in the highest level of military readiness for both Koreas. High-ranking officials from the Government and North Korea subsequently met for discussions intending to diffuse military tensions and released a joint statement whereby, among other things, North Korea expressed regret over the landmine explosions that wounded the Korean soldiers.

•

In March 2010, a Korean naval vessel was destroyed by an underwater explosion, killing many of the crewmen on board. The Government formally accused North Korea of causing the sinking, while North Korea denied responsibility. Moreover, in November 2010, North Korea fired more than one hundred artillery shells that hit Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island near the Northern Limit Line, which acts as the de facto maritime boundary between Korea and North Korea on the west coast of the Korean peninsula, causing casualties and significant property damage. The Government condemned North Korea for the attack and vowed stern retaliation should there be further provocation.

North Korea’s economy also faces severe challenges, which may further aggravate social and political pressure within North Korea. There can be no assurance that the level of tension affecting the Korean peninsula will not escalate in the future. Any further increase in tensions such as North Korea’s belligerent tactics, dissolution of high level contacts between Korea and North Korea or occurrence of military hostilities, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

In addition, since 2005, we have provided fixed-line telephone services, through various fixed-line telephone equipment that we installed, to certain South Korean companies located at the Complex, which was established pursuant to an agreement made during the summit meeting of the two Koreas in June 2000. The Complex was the largest economic project between the two Koreas and was designed to combine the Republic’s capital and entrepreneurial expertise with the availability of land and labor of North Korea.

For the year ended December 31, 2015, our revenue from the services provided for the Complex was approximately ￦ 1.17 billion. We had no revenue from such services for the year ended December 31, 2016 and 2017. Our investment in the Complex was approximately ￦ 1.88 billion as of December 31, 2015 and we have not made additional investments since the closure of the Complex. However, our services have been suspended since February 11, 2016 following the Government’s decision to halt operations of the Complex to impede North Korea’s utilization of funds from the Complex to finance its nuclear and missile programs. No assurance can be given that we will not experience any material losses as a result of the suspension of this project or failure of the project as a result of a breakdown or escalation of hostilities in the relationship between the Republic and North Korea.

Korea’s legislation allowing class action suits related to securities transactions may expose us to additional litigation risk.

The Securities-related Class Action Act of Korea enacted in January 2004 allows class action suits to be brought by shareholders of companies (including us) listed on the KRX KOSPI Market for losses incurred in connection with purchases and sales of securities and other securities transactions arising from (1) false or inaccurate statements provided in the registration statements, prospectuses, business reports, audit reports, semi-annual or quarterly reports and material fact reports and omission of material information in such documents, (2) insider trading, (3) market manipulation and (4) unfair trading. This law permits 50 or more shareholders who collectively hold 0.01% of the shares of a company to bring a class action suit against, among others, the issuer and its directors and officers. Because of the relatively recent enactment of the act, there is not enough judicial precedent to predict

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how the courts will apply the law. Litigation can be time-consuming and expensive to resolve, and can divert management time and attention from business operation. We are not aware of any basis upon which such suit may be brought against us, nor are any such suits pending or threatened. Any such litigation brought against us could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We are generally subject to Korean corporate governance and disclosure standards, which differ in significant respects from those in other countries.

Companies in Korea, including us, are subject to corporate governance standards applicable to Korean public companies which differ in some respects from standards applicable in other countries, including the United States. As a reporting company registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and listed on the New York Stock Exchange, we are, and will continue to be, subject to certain corporate governance standards as mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended. However, foreign private issuers, including us, are exempt from certain corporate governance standards required under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act or the rules of the New York Stock Exchange. For a description of significant differences in corporate governance standards, see “Item 16G. Corporate Governance.” There may also be less publicly available information about Korean companies, such as us, than is regularly made available by public or non-public companies in other countries.

Risks Relating to the Securities

If an investor surrenders his ADSs to withdraw the underlying shares, he may not be allowed to deposit the shares again to obtain ADSs.

Korean law currently limits foreign ownership of the ADSs and our shares. In addition, under our deposit agreement, the depositary bank cannot accept deposits of shares and deliver ADSs representing those shares unless (1) we have consented to such deposit or (2) Korean counsel has advised the depositary bank that the consent required under (1) is no longer required under Korean laws and regulations. Under current Korean laws and regulations, the depositary bank is required to obtain our prior consent for the number of shares to be deposited in any given proposed deposit which exceeds the difference between (1) the aggregate number of shares deposited by us or with our consent for the issuance of ADSs (including deposits in connection with the initial and all subsequent offerings of ADSs and stock dividends or other distributions related to these ADSs) and (2) the number of shares on deposit with the depositary bank at the time of such proposed deposit. The depositary bank has informed us that, at a time it considers to be appropriate, the depositary bank plans to start accepting deposits of shares without our consent and to deliver ADSs representing those shares up to the amount allowed under current Korean laws and regulations. Until such time, however, the depositary bank will continue to obtain our consent for such deposits of shares and delivery of ADSs, which we may not provide. Consequently, if an investor surrenders his ADSs to withdraw the underlying shares, he may not be allowed to deposit the shares again to obtain ADSs. See “Item 10. Additional Information—Item 10.D. Exchange Controls.”

A foreign investor may not be able to exercise voting rights with respect to common shares exceeding the number of common shares held by our largest domestic shareholder.

Under the Telecommunications Business Act, a foreign shareholder who holds 15.0% or more of our total shares is prohibited from becoming our largest shareholder. However, any foreign shareholder who held 15.0% or more of our total shares and was our largest shareholder on or prior to May 9, 2004 is exempt from the regulations, provided that such foreign shareholder may not acquire any more of our shares. Under the Telecommunications Business Act, the MSIT may, if it deems it

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necessary to preserve substantial public interests, prohibit a foreign shareholder from being our largest shareholder. In addition, the Foreign Investment Promotion Act prohibits any foreign shareholder from being our largest shareholder if such shareholder owns 5.0% or more of our shares with voting rights. In the event that any foreigner or foreign government acquires our shares in violation of the above provisions, such foreign shareholder may not be able to exercise voting rights with respect to common shares exceeding such threshold. The MSIT may also order us or the foreign shareholder to take corrective measures in respect of the excess shares within a specified period of six months or less. See “Item 10. Additional Information—Item 10.B. Memorandum and Articles of Association.”

Holders of ADSs will not be able to exercise appraisal rights unless they have withdrawn the underlying ordinary shares and become our direct shareholders.

In some limited circumstances, including the transfer of the whole or any significant part of our business and our merger or consolidation with another company, dissenting shareholders have the right to require us to purchase their shares under Korean law. A holder of ADSs will not be able to exercise appraisal rights unless he has withdrawn the underlying ordinary shares and become our direct shareholder. See “Item 10. Additional Information—Item 10.B. Memorandum and Articles of Association.”

An investor may not be able to exercise preemptive rights for additional shares and may suffer dilution of his equity interest in us.

The Commercial Code of Korea and our articles of incorporation require us, with some exceptions, to offer shareholders the right to subscribe for new shares in proportion to their existing ownership percentage whenever new shares are issued. If we offer any rights to subscribe for additional ordinary shares or any rights of any other nature, the depositary bank, after consultation with us, may make the rights available to an ADS holder or use reasonable efforts to dispose of the rights on behalf of the ADS holder and make the net proceeds available to the ADS holder. The depositary bank, however, is not required to make available to an ADS holder any rights to purchase any additional shares unless it deems that doing so is lawful and feasible and:

•

a registration statement filed by us under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, is in effect with respect to those shares; or

•

the offering and sale of those shares is exempt from or is not subject to the registration requirements of the Securities Act.

We are under no obligation to file any registration statement. If a registration statement is required for an ADS holder to exercise preemptive rights but is not filed by us, the ADS holder will not be able to exercise his preemptive rights for additional shares. As a result, the ADS holder may suffer dilution of his equity interest in us.

Forward-looking statements may prove to be inaccurate.

This annual report contains “forward-looking statements” that are based on our current expectations, assumptions, estimates and projections about us and the industries in which we operate. The forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “project,” “should,” and similar expressions. Those statements include, among other things, the discussions of our business strategy and expectations concerning our market position, future operations, margins, profitability, liquidity and capital resources. We caution you that reliance on any forward-looking statement involves risks and uncertainties, and

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that although we believe that the assumptions on which our forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, any of those assumptions could prove to be inaccurate, and, as a result, the forward-looking statements based on those assumptions could be incorrect. The uncertainties in this regard include, but are not limited to, those identified in the risk factors discussed above. In light of these and other uncertainties, you should not conclude that we will necessarily achieve any plans and objectives or projected financial results referred to in any of the forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to release the results of any revisions of these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

Item 4.  Information on the Company

Item 4.A.  History and Development of the Company

In 1981, the Government established us under the Korea Telecom Act to operate the telecommunications services business that it previously directly operated. Under the Korea Telecom Act and the Government-Invested Enterprises Management Basic Act, the Government exercised substantial control over our business and affairs. Effective October 1, 1997, the Korea Telecom Act was repealed and the Government-Invested Enterprises Management Basic Act became inapplicable to us. As a result, we became a corporation under the Commercial Code, and our corporate organization and shareholders’ rights were governed by the Privatization Law and the Commercial Code. Among other things, we began to exercise greater autonomy in setting our annual budget and making investments in the telecommunications industry, and our shareholders began electing our directors, who had previously been appointed by the Government under the Korea Telecom Act.

Prior to 1993, the Government owned all of the issued shares of our common stock. From 1993 through May 2002, the Government disposed of all of its equity interest in us, and the Privatization Law ceased to apply to us in August 2002. We amended our legal name from Korea Telecom Corp. to KT Corporation in March 2002.

Before December 1991, we were the sole provider of local, domestic long-distance and international long-distance telephone services in Korea. The Government began to introduce competition in the telecommunications services market in the early 1990’s. As a result, including ourselves, there are currently three local telephone service providers, five domestic long-distance carriers and numerous international long-distance carriers (including voice resellers) in Korea. In addition, the Government awarded licenses to several service providers to promote competition in other telecommunications business areas such as mobile telephone services and data network services. In June 2009, KTF, a subsidiary providing mobile telephone services, merged into KT Corporation, with KT Corporation surviving the merger, with the objective of maximizing management efficiencies of our fixed-line and mobile telecommunications operations as well as more effectively responding to the convergence trends in the telecommunications industry. See “Item 4. Information on the Company—Item 4.B. Business Overview—Competition.”

Our legal and commercial name is KT Corporation. Our principal executive offices are located at KT Gwanghwamun Building East, 33, Jong-ro 3-gil, Jongno-gu, 03155, Seoul, Korea and our telephone number is (8231) 727-0114.

Item 4.B.  Business Overview

We are the leading telecommunications service provider in Korea and one of the largest and most advanced in Asia. As an integrated telecommunications service provider, our principal services include:

•

mobile voice and data telecommunications services based on 3G W-CDMA technology and 4G LTE technology;

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•

fixed-line services, which include:

Ø

telephone services, including local, domestic long-distance and international long-distance fixed-line and Voice over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) telephone services (i.e., provision of communication services over the Internet, and not over the fixed-line network) and interconnection services to other telecommunications companies;

Ø

broadband Internet access service and other Internet-related services, including IPTV services; and

Ø

data communication services, including leased line service and dedicated broadband Internet connection service to institutional customers;

•

credit card processing and other financial services through BC Card Co., Ltd.; and

•

various other services, including satellite service (through KT Sat Co., Ltd. (“KT SAT”)) and information technology, real estate business (mainly through KT Estate Inc. (“KT Estate”)), satellite TV service (through KT Skylife), media contents business and network services such as cloud computing services.

Leveraging on our dominant position in the fixed-line telephone services market and our established customer base in Korea, we have successfully pursued new growth opportunities during the past decade and obtained strong market positions in each of our principal lines of business. In particular:

•

in the mobile services market in Korea, we achieved a market share of 31.4% with approximately 20 million subscribers as of December 31, 2017;

•

in the fixed-line telephone services market in Korea, we continue to be the dominant provider with approximately 24.3 million installed lines, of which approximately 11.2 million lines were in service as of December 31, 2017. As of such date, our market share of the local market was 80.5% and our market share of the domestic long-distance market was 79.8%;

•

we are Korea’s largest broadband Internet access provider with approximately 8.8 million subscribers (excluding WiBro and ollehWifi subscribers) as of December 31, 2017, representing a market share of 41.3%; and

•

we are also the leading provider of data communication services in Korea.

For the year ended December 31, 2017, our operating revenues were ￦ 23,547 billion, our profit for the period was ￦ 546 billion and our basic profit per share was ￦ 1,884. As of December 31, 2017, our total assets were ￦ 29,745 billion, total liabilities were ￦ 16,696 billion and total equity was ￦ 13,049 billion.

Business Strategy

We believe the telecommunications market in Korea is nearing saturation, despite certain areas of growth remaining due to Korea’s growing economy, consumers’ willingness to adopt new technologies, relatively high income and a relatively large middle class. To maintain our competitiveness, we believe we need to pursue growth in other areas, while maintaining our strength in

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existing businesses. In order to enhance the management efficiencies of our mobile and fixed-line telecommunications operations as well as more effectively respond to the convergence trends in the telecommunications industry, KTF merged into KT Corporation in June 2009, with KT Corporation surviving the merger. As part of our efforts to improve our operational efficiencies, we transferred all operations relating to fixed-line sales activities (including on-site sales, line activation, after service, and customer center operations) to our subsidiaries in 2014.

Since 2016, our main strategical focus was on promotion of services that converge information & communication technology with other fields such as energy, security, media, healthcare, transportation and financial transactions, utilizing our fixed-line and wireless infrastructure installed for our olleh GiGA Internet Service and LTE mobile services. In addition, we have focused on artificial intelligence and big data and plan to leverage our platforms like IPTV and network assets to introduce innovative convergence services. For example, we launched “GiGA Genie” using an artificial-intelligence based IPTV set-top box that allows users to voice-command to watch TV, use the Internet and control other Internet-connected appliances. In 2017, we launched an interactive video security service, called “GiGAeyes.” In addition, the first Internet-only bank in Korea, called K bank, over which we own a minority interest, began operation in April 2017 and seeks to operate as a virtual bank whose operation is based on its mobile application and the Internet, while promoting greater user accessibility through the convenience stores of one of our other consortium members. K bank also plans to differentiate itself from other conventional banks by utilizing big data and offering competitive products and interest rates.

Our strategical focus on convergence services builds on our “GiGAtopia” corporate vision, which refers to our goal to create a world where humans and all things are connected through ultra-fast “GiGA” infrastructure and ICT eco-system, enhanced by convergence services, industrial development and innovation. We launched our olleh GiGA Internet service, which provides transmission speed of up to 1 Gbps, in October 2014 (“olleh GiGA Internet Service”). In June 2015, we also announced the mobile data service known as “GiGA LTE,” which utilizes multipath transmission control protocol (MPTCP) technology. We continue to expand GiGA coverage, initially focusing on metropolitan areas, and further expand to other regions in Korea. By promoting our convergence services, we aim to contribute in changing the current subsidy-based Korean telecommunication market competition to one based on innovative technology, products and enhanced services.

We believe development of 5G technology will be a key driver for future innovations, fueled also by the increasing importance of big data. With our leadership in providing highly advanced 4G LTE services, we have made extensive efforts to develop and present various further advanced technologies. At the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, we unveiled the world’s first 5G trial services. We showcased a variety of services with enhanced speed, latency, and connectivity, such as broadcasting from the viewpoint of players with a 360-degree panoramic view or broadcasting from multiple viewpoints. As an official telecommunications services partner of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, we made utmost efforts to realize the vision of 5G and capture truly memorable moments of the Olympics. In this effort, we announced our plan to commercialize the 5G services by 2019, one year ahead of our initial plan. In October 2017, “5G Network Slice Orchestration” technology, independently developed by us, was approved by the International Telecommunication Union, a specialized Information & Communication Technology agency of the United Nations, as part of the 5G standard technology.

In 2017, we organized our “customer-facing” business (as compared to the internal supporting business, such as legal, accounting and investor relations departments, and operational support functions for designing and developing global network services and maintaining overseas branches and subsidiaries) into five business groups, the Marketing Group, the Customer Group, the Enterprise Business Group, the Future Convergence Business Group and the Platform Business Group, so that

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we may achieve higher synergies, more effectively address differing needs of our customer segments, as well as strengthen our competitiveness and discover new growth opportunities. We aim to pursue the following strategies for our business groups:

•

Marketing Group . Through our Marketing Group, we aim to expand our telecommunication and convergence operations by (i) improving our fixed-line and wireless telecommunication market shares and average revenue per user, (ii) developing business strategies and plans specifically related to telecommunications and convergence, (iii) strengthening our competitiveness over products, customer service and other related services and (iv) developing and executing efficient marketing strategies. We also focus on expanding our wireless data communication business to meet rising demand for broadband Internet access using advanced wireless data communications devices such as smartphones. We are working closely with handset manufacturers to expand our offerings of smartphones and handsets designed to promote convergence of fixed-line and mobile telecommunications services, as well as to promote development of various applications for such devices.

We plan to take advantage of our industry-leading network infrastructure to attract more customers as the telecommunication and convergence markets further develop. In addition, we aim to further enhance our position in the mobile telecommunications market by leveraging on our strong brand, nationwide marketing network, competitive data usage rates, call centers dedicated to smartphone users, creative marketing strategies that address our potential customers’ needs and ability to bundle various mobile and fixed-line services. We also plan to further expand our contents and applications for smartphone users and mobile data users by cooperating with application developers in Korea and abroad, in order to further solidify our position as a leader in the convergence market.

In 2016, we launched Y24 plans which offer discounted fees and tailored data offerings for customers of age 24 or younger. We aim to differentiate ourselves from our competitors by providing broadband Internet access service using high-speed FTTH connection and offering Internet phone service with value-added features such as video communication, short message service and phone banking. We began offering real-time broadcasting service on our IPTV service in November 2008 and we were the first in the IPTV industry to achieve approximately 7.5 million subscribers in 2017. In 2017, we also introduced a new technology to minimize a smartphone’s power consumption while running on the LTE wireless network. The launch and growth of GiGA Genie services in 2017 will help us to further grow our subscriber base and strengthen our platform business.

We believe that convergence of fixed-line and mobile communications technologies provides a competitive advantage to us because we have the technological know-how and experience to design and construct a unified delivery platform for a new generation of value-added services. We plan to make such platform more readily available to others so that they may create additional contents and convenience solutions such as electronic commerce and digital transaction applications that can be utilized anywhere using various media and communications devices.

•

Customer Group . Through our Customer Group, we aim to improve our marketing and customer service efforts for all of our products and services by (i) planning and executing strategy for each product that we offer and our marketing efforts, (ii) contributing to expanding our market shares by strengthening our marketing and customer service efforts, (iii) maximizing customer satisfaction by providing high quality customer service and (iv) transforming our customer service based on technologies such as service automation and self-installation.

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•

Enterprise Business Group . Through our Enterprise Business Group, we aim to provide our large corporate, small- and medium-sized enterprise and government agency customers with one-stop solution services, including designing data communications and information technology infrastructure and overseeing their day-to-day operations with the objective of achieving operational efficiencies and cost savings, as well as establishing and executing business plans for our global operations. Furthermore, in conjunction with our Future Convergence Business Group, we seek to expand our operations in the fields of smart energy, unified security systems and oversized data management.

•

Future Convergence Business Group . Due to the saturation within the Korean telecommunication market and limitations on growth in the traditional telecommunications services market, through our Future Convergence Business Group, we aim to concentrate our existing business capabilities in achieving new synergies by converging information & communication technology with other fields, such as smart energy, unified security systems, next-generation media, healthcare and intelligent traffic control. In the field of smart energy, through our convergence energy optimization project named “KT Micro-Energy Grid System,” we seek to contribute in preventing energy crisis and to increase energy efficiency. In the field of unified security systems, we seek to contribute to the establishment of national response systems for natural and other disasters, as well as enhancing personal and corporate security. For example, in 2017, we launched an interactive security system, called “GiGAeyes”, which analyzes surveillance video and autonomously detects suspicious activities. In the field of next-generation media, we seek to contribute to the development of next-generation media contents and new media technology, thereby supporting the expansion of Korean media contents to overseas markets. We are also seeking ways to develop personalized treatment systems to provide enhanced healthcare, as well as to create intelligent traffic control systems to reduce traffic. We are planning to develop services based on virtual or augmented reality.

•

Platform Business Group . Through our Platform Business Group, we strive to transform into a platform-based business focusing on online-to-offline commerce, financial technology (“Fintech”) and Internet of Things (“IoT”). As part of our Fintech business initiatives, in 2016, we launched an online payment application, which provides a method of online authentication that uses biometric data such as finger prints or voice instead of complex passwords. With regard to IoT, we will continue to deploy the Industrial IoT business model, which explores opportunities to converge services with other industries. We also plan to strengthen our IoT service relating to household goods.

The Telecommunications Industry in Korea

The Korean telecommunications industry is one of the most developed in Asia. According to the information announced by the KCC and the MSIT, the number of mobile subscribers in Korea was approximately 63.7 million and the number of broadband Internet access subscribers in Korea was approximately 21.2 million as of December 31, 2017. Based on the information announced by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety of Korea, the KCC and the MSIT, as of December 31, 2017, the mobile penetration rate, which is calculated by dividing the number of mobile subscriber accounts (including multiple counting of those who subscribe to more than one mobile service) by the population of Korea, was 124.9%, and the broadband Internet penetration rate, which is calculated by dividing the number of broadband Internet access service subscriber accounts (including multiple counting of those who subscribe to more than one broadband Internet access service) by the number of households in Korea, was 108.6%.

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Mobile Telecommunications Service Market

The Korean cellular market was formally established in 1984 when SK Telecom, formerly Korea Mobile Telecom, became the first mobile telephone operator in Korea. SK Telecom remained the only cellular operator in Korea until Shinsegi Telecom began service in 1994. In order to encourage further market growth and competition, the Government awarded three 2G licenses in June 1996. KTF was awarded a license alongside LG U+ and Hansol M.com, and commercial 2G service was launched in October 1997.

Since the introduction of three new operators in 1997, the Korean mobile market has undergone consolidation and significant growth. Following SK Telecom’s purchase of a controlling stake in Shinsegi, we acquired a 47.9% interest in Hansol M.com in 2000 and renamed the company KT M.com. KT M.com merged into KTF in May 2001 and Shinsegi merged into SK Telecom in January 2002. In June 2009, KTF merged into KT Corporation, with KT Corporation surviving the merger. KT Corporation and SK Telecom offer third-generation, high-capacity HSDPA-based IMT-2000 wireless Internet and video multimedia communications services that use significantly greater bandwidth capacity. In July 2011, SK Telecom and LG U+ began offering 4G communications services based on LTE technology, which enables data transmission at a speed faster than W-CDMA or WiBro networks, and we began our 4G LTE services in January 2012. Additionally, in September 2013, we commenced providing wideband LTE services, which utilizes our adjoining 20 MHz of bandwidths in the 1.8 GHz spectrum to provide transmission speed of up to 150 Mbps (for downloading), twice faster than those offered under standard LTE services. SK Telecom also began providing its wideband LTE services in September 2013 and LG U+ commenced providing its wideband LTE services in January 2014. We expanded our wideband LTE services to all of Korea in July 2014. Furthermore, in March 2014, we commercialized Wideband LTE-A services, which interconnects our 20 MHz of bandwidth in the 1.8 GHz spectrum used to offer wideband LTE services with the 10 MHz of bandwidth in the 900 MHz spectrum used to offer standard LTE services by utilizing inter-band carrier aggregation technology to support transmission speed of up to 225 Mbps (for downloading), and began additionally interconnecting 10 MHz of bandwidth in the 2.1 GHz spectrum in January 2015 to support transmission speed of up to 300 Mbps (for downloading) under the “Wideband LTE-A X4” service. In June 2015, we commercialized GiGA LTE services which link “Wideband LTE-A X4” and our WiFi network to provide a faster WiFi connection in June 2015. In 2016, we won various awards for our GiGA LTE services and agreed to provide GiGA LTE technology to Turk Telekom Group, a leading telecommunications provider in Turkey.

In April 2014, LG U+, SK Telecom and we began offering various unlimited mobile service packages, offering mobile subscribers with unlimited voice calls, text messaging, and LTE data. As of December 31, 2017, the number of LTE subscribers in Korea exceeded 50 million. Due to the high mobile penetration rate in Korea, we expect the growth of new subscribers to be limited. We believe that the continuing intense competition among major telecommunications operators in Korea and the resulting pressure on our fees may have a material adverse impact on our results of operations.

The table below gives the subscription and penetration information of the mobile telecommunications industry for the periods indicated:

		As of December 31,
		2013				2014				2015				2016				2017
Total Korean Population (thousands) (1)			51,141				51,328				51,529				51,696				50,977
Mobile Subscribers (thousands) (2)			54,681				57,290				58,935				61,296				63,659
Mobile Subscriber Growth Rate			2.0	%			4.8	%			2.9	%			4.0	%			3.9	%
Mobile Penetration (3)			106.9	%			111.6	%			114.4	%			118.6	%			124.9	%

(1)	Based on the number of registered residents as published by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety of Korea.

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(2)	Based on information announced by the KCC and MSIT.

(3)	Penetration is determined by dividing mobile subscribers by total Korean population.

Broadband Internet Access Market

With the advancement of broadband technology, the Korean broadband Internet access market has experienced significant growth. The principal technologies used in providing high speed Internet access services are xDSL, HFC and fiber optic LAN. xDSL refers to various types of digital subscriber lines, including ADSL and VDSL. xDSL offers an access solution over existing telephone lines using a specialized modem while HFC service involves the use of two-way cable networks. Fiber optic LAN is a technology that combines fiber optic cables and Unshielded Twisted Pair (“UTP”) cables. Fiber optic cables are connected to residential and commercial buildings with UTP cable-based LAN capabilities. While xDSL and HFC are more widely used technologies because of their relative reliability, ease of provisioning and cost effectiveness, fiber optic LAN usage in Korea has been steadily increasing in recent years.

Since the subscribers of two-way cable networks share a limited bandwidth, the downstream speed tends to slow down as the number of subscribers increases, thereby decreasing the quality of HFC-based service. While xDSL technology was commercially introduced after HFC technology, it has surpassed HFC to become the prevalent broadband access platform in Korea. VDSL, ADSL-based technology with enhanced downstream speed, became commercialized in 2002. Some of the service providers have upgraded their broadband network to provide fiber optic LAN-based service to their subscribers, which further enhances data transmission speed up to 1 Gbps as well as improves connection quality, and enables such service providers to offer video-on-demand services with real-time high definition broadcasting.

In recent years, broadband Internet access service providers and mobile telecommunications service providers have focused their attention on providing wireless Internet connection capabilities. They have introduced WiFi with speed of up to 1.3 Gbps, which is designed to integrate fixed-line and wireless services by offering high speed wireless Internet access to laptops and smartphones in hot-spot zones and at home. In addition, we expect our competitors would focus their attention on upgrading data transmission capacity of their Internet services as the Government and the network service providers including us, SKT and LG U+ announced the plan to enhance transmission capacity by ten-fold (up to 10 Gbps) in 2018. See “—Our Services—Fixed-line Services—Internet Services.”

Our Services

Mobile Service

We provide mobile services based on 3G W-CDMA technology and 4G LTE technology. Prior to the merger of KTF into KT Corporation, we provided such services through KTF, which was formerly a consolidated subsidiary. KTF obtained one of the three licenses to provide nationwide 2G service in June 1996 and began offering 2G service in October 1997. In June 2009, KTF merged into KT Corporation, with KT Corporation surviving the merger, with the objective of maximizing management efficiencies of our fixed-line and mobile telecommunications operations as well as more effectively responding to the convergence trends in the telecommunications industry. We currently offer HSDPA-based IMT-2000 services, which are third-generation, high-capacity wireless Internet and video multimedia communications services based on W-CDMA wireless network standards. Several wireless carriers in the United States, Europe and Asia commenced LTE services in recent years and LTE technology is currently widely accepted as the standard 4G technology. LTE technology enables data to be transmitted faster than W-CDMA, generally providing a downloading speed of 75 Mbps per 10 MHz. In January 2012, we also began offering 4G LTE services in the Seoul metropolitan area,

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following the termination of our 2G services. We completed the expansion of our 4G LTE service coverage nationwide in October 2012 and commenced providing wideband LTE services in September 2013, and commercialized Wideband LTE-A services in March 2014. We began offering “Wideband LTE-A X4” services in January 2015 and also launched “GiGA LTE” services which links “Wideband LTE-A X4” and our wireless LAN service (“WiFi”) signals to provide a faster WiFi connection in June 2015. In addition, our use of 20 MHz of bandwidth in the 1.8 GHZ spectrum, acquired in May 2016, further enhances the quality of our LTE services through intra-band carrier aggregation technology. We believe that the faster data transmission speed of the LTE network allows us to offer significantly improved wireless data transmission services with faster wireless access to multimedia content. Accordingly, we have made extensive efforts to develop advanced technologies as well as to provide a variety of services with enhanced speed, latency and connectivity.

Revenues related to mobile service accounted for 30.2% of our operating revenues in 2017. In addition, our goods sold, which are primarily from mobile handset sales, accounted for 14.8% of our operating revenues in 2017. The following table shows selected information concerning the usage of our network during the periods indicated and the number of our subscribers as of the end of such periods:

		As of or for the Year Ended December 31,
		2015				2016				2017
Average Monthly Revenue per Subscriber (1)		￦	35,308			￦	35,524			￦	34,444
Number of Subscribers (in thousands) (2)			18,038				18,892				20,015

(1)	The average monthly revenue per subscriber is computed by dividing total monthly fees, usage charges, interconnection fees and value-added service fees for the period by the weighted average number of subscribers and dividing the quotient by the number of months in the period.

(2)	Includes our LTE subscribers of approximately 12 million, 13 million, and 14 million, in 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively.

We compete with SK Telecom, a mobile service provider that has a longer operating history than us, and LG U+ which began its service at around the same time as KTF. As of December 31, 2017, we had approximately 20 million subscribers, or a market share of 31.4%, which was the second largest among the three mobile service providers.

We market our mobile services primarily through independent exclusive dealers located throughout Korea. As of December 31, 2017, there were approximately 2,600 shops managed by our independent exclusive dealers. In addition to assisting new subscribers to activate mobile service and purchase handsets, authorized dealers are connected to our database and are able to assist customers with their account information. Although most of these dealers sell exclusively our products and services, sub-dealers hired by exclusive dealers may sell products and services offered by other mobile telecommunications service providers. Authorized dealers are entitled to a commission for each new subscriber registered, as well as ongoing commissions for the first five years based primarily on the subscriber’s monthly fee, usage charges and length of subscription. The handsets sold by us to the dealers cannot be returned to us unless they are defective. If a handset is defective, it may be exchanged for a new one within 14 days from the date of purchase. On October 1, 2014, the Handset Distribution Reform Act, which regulates the sale and subsidies of mobile telecommunication devices, went into effect but was phased out in September 2017. See “—Regulation—Rates”.

In response to the diversification of our customers’ demands and their increasing sophistication, we have also selectively engaged in opportunities to expand our internal sales channels in recent years. In 2007, we established a wholly-owned subsidiary, KT M&S Co., Ltd., that operates approximately 260 customer plazas that engage in mobile service sales activities as well as provide a one-stop shop for a wide range of other services and products that we offer. We also operate a website to promote and advertise our products and services to the general public and in particular to younger customers who are more familiar with the Internet.

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We conduct the screening process for new subscribers with great caution. A potential subscriber must meet all minimum credit criteria before receiving mobile service. The procedure includes checking the history of non-payment and credit information from banks and credit agencies such as the National Information and Credit Evaluation Corporation. Applicants who do not meet the minimum criteria can only subscribe to the mobile service by using a pre-paid card.

Fixed-line Services

We provide a variety of fixed-line communication services, including various telephone services, broadband and other Internet services and data communication services.

Fixed-line Telephone Services

We utilize our extensive nationwide telephone network to provide fixed-line telephone services, which consist of local, domestic long-distance, international long-distance services and land-to-mobile interconnection services. These fixed-line telephone services accounted for 7.8% of our operating revenues in 2017. Our telephone network includes exchanges, long-distance transmission equipment and fiber optic and copper cables. The following table gives some basic measures of the development of our telephone system. In recent years, the proliferation of mobile phones, as well as the availability of increasingly lower wireless pricing plans, some of which include unlimited voice minutes, has led to significant decreases in our domestic long-distance call minutes and local call pulses.

		As of or for the Year Ended December 31,
		2013				2014				2015				2016				2017
Total Korean population (thousands) (1)			51,141				51,328				51,529				51,696				50,977
Lines installed (thousands) (2)			24,264				23,930				23,607				24,858				24,343
Lines in service (thousands) (2)			14,032				13,713				12,440				11,871				11,220
Lines in service per 100 inhabitants (3)			27.4				26.7				24.6				23.0				21.7
Fiber optic cable (kilometers)			636,347				673,783				695,546				732,873				764,802
Number of public telephones installed (thousands)			94				88				83				74				71
Domestic long-distance call minutes (millions) (4)			3,803				2,743				2,113				1,507				1,126
Local call pulses (millions) (4)			5,765				4,038				3,034				2,161				1,611

(1)	Based on the number of registered residents as published by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety of Korea.

(2)	Including lines used for public telephones but excluding lines dedicated to centralized extension system services for corporate subscribers.

(3)	Determined based on lines in service and total Korean population.

(4)	Excluding calls placed from public telephones.

Our domestic long-distance cable network is entirely made up of fiber optic cable and can carry both voice and data transmissions. Compared to conventional materials such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable provides significantly greater transmission capacity with less signal fading, thus requiring less frequent amplification. All of our lines are connected to exchanges capable of handling digital signal technology. A principal limitation of the older analog technology is that applications other than voice communications, such as the transmission of text and computer data, require either separate networks or conversion equipment. Digital systems permit a range of voice, text and data applications to be transmitted simultaneously on the same network.

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The following table shows the number of minutes of international long-distance calls recorded by us and specific service providers utilizing our international long-distance network in each specified category for each year in the five-year period ended December 31, 2017:

		Year Ended December 31,
		2013				2014				2015				2016				2017
		(In millions of billed minutes)
Incoming international long-distance calls			628.4				549.4				390.5				352.3				286.4
Outgoing international long-distance calls			244.2				212.2				179.0				155.1				125.9
Total			872.6				761.6				569.5				507.4				412.3

Japan (33.0%), China (21.5%) and the United States (9.2%) accounted for the greatest percentage of our international long-distance call traffic measured in minutes in 2017. In recent years, the volume of our incoming calls has exceeded the volume of our outgoing calls. The agreed settlement rate is applied to the call minutes to determine the applicable net settlement payment.

Interconnection . Under the Telecommunications Business Act, we are required to permit other service providers to interconnect to our fixed-line network. Currently, the principal users of this interconnection capacity include SK Broadband and LG U+ (offering local, domestic long-distance and international long-distance services, and transmitting calls to and from their mobile networks), Sejong and SK Telink (offering international and domestic long-distance services), and SK Telecom. We recognize as land-to-mobile interconnection revenue the entire amount of the usage charge collected from the landline user and recognize as an expense the amount of interconnection charge paid to the mobile service provider.

Internet Phone Services . The volume of calls made through Internet phone services has significantly increased since Internet phone service was first introduced in Korea in 1998. We provide Internet phone services that enable VoIP phone devices with broadband connection to make domestic and international calls. In order to differentiate our Internet phone services from our competitors’ services, we provide value-added services such as video communication, short message service, phone banking and a variety of traffic and local news information. As of December 31, 2017, we had approximately 3.4 million subscribers.

Internet Services

Broadband Internet Access Service . Leveraging on our nationwide network of approximately 764,800 kilometers of fiber optic cable network, we have achieved a leading market position in the broadband Internet access market in Korea. We believe we have a competitive advantage over other broadband Internet access service providers because, unlike our competitors, we can utilize our existing networks nationwide to provide broadband Internet access service. Our broadband Internet access service accounted for 8.8% of our operating revenues in 2017. Our principal Internet access services include:

•

ADSL, VDSL, Ethernet and FTTH services under the “olleh Internet” and “olleh GiGA Internet” brand names;

•

WiFi service under the “ollehWiFi” brand name, which is designed to integrate fixed-line and wireless services by offering high speed wireless Internet access to laptops and smartphones in hot-spot zones and olleh Internet service in fixed-line environments. OllehWiFi enables subscribers to access the Internet at a speed of up to 1.3 Gbps. We sponsored approximately 107,000 hot-spot zones nationwide for wireless connection as of December 31, 2017; and

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•

olleh 4G WiBro Internet access service, which enables two-way WiBro Internet access to portable computers, mobile phones and other portable devices at a speed averaging 6 Mbps per user.

We had approximately 8.8 million broadband Internet subscribers and approximately 2.8 million ollehWiFi service subscribers as of December 31, 2017 . In March 2005, we commercially launched our WiBro service in June 2006. We completed the upgrade of our 4G WiBro network and expanded our WiBro service coverage to 84 cities nationwide and major highways in March 2011, which we believe allows us to provide WiBro services at speeds that are approximately three times faster than our previous 3G network at a lower cost. The number of our WiBro subscribers decreased from approximately 934,000 subscribers as of December 31, 2013 to approximately 289,000 subscribers as of December 31, 2017, as more WiBro subscribers chose to access the Internet using our 4G LTE network rather than WiBro following the proliferation of 4G LTE services since 2013. Furthermore, we focused our subscriber retention efforts on our mobile subscribers rather than our WiBro subscribers. The term of our license to 30 MHz of bandwidth in the 2.3 GHz spectrum for the WiBro services shall expire as of March 2019. We launched our olleh GiGA Internet Service, which provides transmission speed of up to 1 Gbps, and had approximately 3.9 million subscribers as of December 31, 2017.

Our olleh Internet service utilizes ADSL technology, which is a technology that converts existing copper twisted-pair telephone lines into access paths for multimedia and high-speed data communications. ADSL transforms the existing public telephone network from one limited to voice, text and low-resolution graphics to a system capable of bringing multimedia to subscriber premises without new cabling. The asymmetric design optimizes the bandwidth by maximizing the downstream speed for downloading information from the Internet. While ADSL technology was commercially introduced after HFC-based technology, it has surpassed HFC to become the prevalent access platform in Korea. VDSL, ADSL-based technology with enhanced downstream speed, became commercialized in July 2002. We are continually upgrading our broadband network to enable better FTTH connection, which further enhances data transmission speed of up to 1 Gbps and connection quality. FTTH is a telecommunication architecture in which a communication path is provided over optical fiber cables extending from the telecommunications operator’s switching equipment to the boundary of home or office. FTTH uses fiber optic cable, which is able to carry a high-bandwidth signal for longer distances without degradation. FTTH enables us to deliver enhanced products and services that require high bandwidth, such as IPTV, and other digital media content with higher stability.

The high-speed downstream rates can reach up to 100 Mbps for VDSL and 1 Gbps for FTTH. In October 2016, we commercialized GiGA Wire 2.0 Internet service solutions on copper wires to provide data transmission speed of up to 1 Gbps. We are making efforts to offer data transmission speed of up to 10 Gbps, by the end of 2018. Downstream rates depend on a number of factors. For a constant wire gauge, the data rate decreases as the length of the copper wire increases. Generally, if the separation between the telephone office and the subscriber is greater than four kilometers, line attenuation is so severe that broadband speeds can no longer be achieved. Fiber optic cable used by FTTH, on the other hand, uses laser light to carry signals that travel long distances inside fiber optic cable without degradation.

Other Internet-related Services . Our other Internet-related services focus primarily on providing infrastructure and solutions for business enterprises, as well as IPTV and network portal services. Our other Internet-related services accounted for 9.1% of our operating revenues in 2017.

We operate 12 data centers located throughout Korea and provide a wide range of computing services to companies which need servers, storage and leased lines. Data centers are facilities used to house, protect and maintain network server computers that store and deliver Internet and other

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network content, such as web pages, applications and data. Our data centers are designed to meet international standards, and are equipped with temperature and humidity control systems, regulated and reliable power supplies, mechanical equipment, fire detection and suppression equipment, security monitoring and wide-bandwidth connections to the Internet. Data centers allow corporations to outsource their application and server hardware management.

Our data centers offer network outsourcing services, server operation services and system support services. Our network outsourcing services include co-location, which is the installation of our customers’ network equipment at our data centers. Co-location is designed to increase customers’ Internet connection speed and reduce connection time and costs by directly connecting the customers’ server to the Internet backbone switch at our data centers. Our server operation services include optimal server management service and technical support service we provide with respect to the leased servers that are linked directly to our Internet backbone switch. We also lease servers and network equipment for a fixed monthly fee. Our system support services include providing system resources for a wide range of Internet computing services, such as application transfer, network storage, video streaming and application download, as well as sending short text messages and messages containing multimedia objects, such as images, audio and video.

We also offer a service called Bizmeka to develop and commercialize business-to-business solutions targeting small- and medium-sized business enterprises in Korea. Bizmeka is an applied application service provider which provides industry standard and specialized business solutions, including integrated business administration solutions and intranet collaboration solutions.

We also offer high definition video-on-demand and real-time broadcasting IPTV services under the brand name “olleh TV,” and began offering ultra-high-definition (“UHD”) IPTV services, which offer resolutions up to four times those offered under high-definition television services, under the brand name “olleh GiGA UHD TV” starting in September 2014. Our IPTV service offers access to an array of digital media contents, including movies, sports, news, educational programs and TV replay, for a fixed monthly fee or on a pay-per-view basis. Through a digital set-top box that we rent to our customers, our customers are able to browse the catalogue of digital media contents and view selected media streams on their television. A set-top box provides two-way communications on an IP network and decodes video streaming data. We had approximately 7.5 million olleh TV subscribers as of December 31, 2017. In December 2015, amendments to the Internet Multimedia Broadcasting Services Act were promulgated. Under such amendments, a single broadcasting operator, together with its affiliates, may not have more than one-third of the market share of all paid broadcasting subscribers in Korea. The market share restriction will be in effect until June 27, 2018, subject to the Government’s decision to renew the market share restriction or phase out the restriction as originally planned. The proposed amendment to the Internet Multimedia Broadcasting Services Act that aims to preserve the restriction on market share is currently pending at the National Assembly.

Data Communication Services

Our data communication services involve offering exclusive lines that allow point-to-point connection for voice and data traffic between two or more geographically separate points. As of December 31, 2017, we leased over 249,817 lines to domestic and international businesses. The data communication service accounted for 4.5% of our operating revenues in 2017.

We provide dedicated and secure broadband Internet connection service to institutional customers under the “Kornet” brand name. We provide high-speed connection up to 10.0 Gbps connected to our Internet backbone network with capacity of 9.0 Tbps, as well as rent to our customers and install necessary routers to ensure reliable Internet connection and enhanced security. We provide

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discount rates to qualified customers, including small- and medium-sized enterprises, businesses engaging in Internet access services and government agencies.

Financial Services

Our financial services accounted for 15.4% of our operating revenues in 2017. To further diversify our business and to create synergies through utilization of our mobile telecommunications network in financial services, we, through our former subsidiary KT Capital Co., Ltd., acquired 1,622,520 additional shares of common stock of BC Card Co., Ltd. from Woori Bank, Busan Bank and Shinhan Card for approximately ￦ 252 billion in October 2011. As we were deemed to have control over BC Card Co., Ltd., it became our consolidated subsidiary starting in October 2011. We acquired an additional 1,349,920 common shares of BC Card Co., Ltd. in January 2012 for approximately ￦ 287 billion, and owned a 69.5% interest in BC Card Co., Ltd. as of December 31, 2017. BC Card Co., Ltd. offers various credit card and related financial services. BC Card Co., Ltd. had consolidated operating revenues of ￦ 3,629 billion and net income of ￦ 156 billion for the year ended December 31, 2017 and consolidated assets of ￦ 4,048 billion and liabilities of ￦ 2,955 billion as of December 31, 2017. In March 2014, the investment business division of KT Capital Co., Ltd., including 3,059,560 common shares of BC Card Co., Ltd. that KT Capital Co., Ltd. held, was spun off and merged into KT Corporation, to further strengthen the synergy between telecommunication and finance operations within the KT group and increase shareholder value. To focus on our core telecommunications business, we and our consolidated subsidiary, KT Hitel Co., Ltd., disposed of the entire 100% stake in KT Capital Co., Ltd. in August 2015 for a total of ￦ 299 billion.

In November 2015, the Government announced plans to introduce Internet-only banks and granted preliminary approval to two consortiums, K bank consortium and Kakao Bank consortium. The K bank consortium, over which we own a minority interest as one of 20 shareholding companies including Woori Bank, NH Investment & Securities, Co., Ltd., GS Retail Co., Ltd. and Hanwha Life Insurance Co., Ltd., received the final approval from the Government to operate the first Internet-only bank in Korea in December 2016. The Kakao Bank consortium, K bank’s competitor, received the final approval from the Government in April 2017 and began its operation in July 2017. K bank began its operation in April 2017 as a virtual bank whose operation is primarily based on its mobile application and the Internet, while promoting greater user accessibility through the convenience stores of one of our other consortium members. K bank also makes efforts to differentiate itself from other conventional banks by utilizing big data and offering competitive products and interest rates. As of December 31, 2017, K bank had deposits of ￦ 1,089 billion while Kakao Bank had deposits of ￦ 5,048 billion. As of December 31, 2017, K bank provided loans of ￦ 856 billion while Kakao Bank provided loans of ￦ 4,622 billion.

Under the current Korean law, as a non-financial institution, we are not allowed to own in excess of 4% voting interest in K bank, and our combined voting and non-voting interest may not exceed 10%. In 2016, the National Assembly did not adopt a pending bill which would have allowed non-financial institutions to own more than 4% interest in Internet banks.

Other Businesses

We also engage in various business activities that extend beyond telephone services and data communication services, including satellite services, information technology and network services, satellite TV services, with the consolidation of KT Skylife starting in January 2011, and media contents business with the establishment of KT Media Hub Co., Ltd. in December 2012. We merged KT Media Hub Co., Ltd. into KT Corporation in March 2015, to enhance shareholder value by increasing management efficiency and promoting synergy among our existing businesses. Our other businesses accounted for 9.3% of our operating revenues for 2017.

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We provide transponder leasing, broadcasting, video distribution and data communication services through Koreasat 5A, Koreasat 6, Koreasat 7 and Koreasat 8 (also known as ABS-2). We also lease satellite capacity from other satellite operators to offer satellite services to both domestic and international customers.

In August 2006, we launched Koreasat 5, a combined civil and governmental communications satellite with a design life of 15 years, to replace Koreasat 2 (launched in 1996 with a design life of ten years). In December 2010, we launched Koreasat 6, with a design life of 15 years, to replace Koreasat 3 (originally launched in 1999, with a design life of 12 years). Koreasat 6 began its commercial operation in February 2011 and carries transponders that are mainly used for direct-to-home satellite broadcasting, video distributions and data communication services. Most of the direct-to-home satellite broadcasting transponders are utilized by KT Skylife. In August 2010, we procured from Asia Broadcast Satellite Holdings, Ltd. (“ABS”), a Hong Kong-based satellite operator, four transponders on ABS-1 satellite and eight additional transponders on ABS-2 satellite in order to provide satellite services with a broader global scope. In the second half of 2014, we exchanged our ownership rights of four transponders on ABS-1 with ownership rights of four transponders on ABS-2 satellite. As a result, we own 12 transponders on ABS-2 satellite (also called Koreasat 8). In May 2017, we launched Koreasat 7, a civil communications satellite with a design life of 17 years. In October 2017, we launched Koreasat 5A, a civil communications satellite with a design life of 17 years which replaced Koreasat 5.

We entered into an agreement with ABS to sell Koreasat 3 to ABS, as Koreasat 3 was expected to reach the end of its design life. In December 2013, the MSIP declared the sales contract regarding Koreasat 3 null and void on the ground that the said contract was made without prior government approval. Shortly after, ABS filed a request for arbitration against us and KT SAT and we, together with KT SAT have been involved in the International Chamber of Commerce arbitration against ABS. In July 2017, the International Chamber of Commerce concluded that ABS has title to Koreasat 3 (such decision, “Partial Award”). In October 2017, we and KT SAT petitioned the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to vacate the Partial Award. In March 2018, the International Chamber of Commerce issued an award of US$748,564 in damages, US$287,673.2 in pre-award interest and post-award interest of 9 percent per year to ABS (“Final Award”). We and KT SAT plan to petition the New York federal court to vacate the Final Award. With regard to the Partial Award, on April 10, 2018, the court dismissed the petition filed by KT SAT and us to vacate the Partial Award. We and KT SAT plan to file an appeal of the foregoing decision. In December 2012, we spun off our satellite service business by establishing KT SAT in an effort to enhance operational specialization and to foster management efficiency, enabling us to respond more promptly to the changing market environments and increasing competitiveness.

We offer a broad array of integrated information technology and network services to our business customers. Our range of services includes consulting, designing, building and maintaining systems and communication networks that satisfy the individual needs of our customers in the public and private sectors.

We own land and real estate in various locations nationwide. Technological developments have enhanced the coverage area of individual telecommunications facilities, which enable us to better utilize our existing land and other real estate holdings. In recent years, we have engaged in the planning and development of commercial and office buildings and condominiums on our unused sites, as well as in the leasing of buildings we own. We established KT Estate in August 2010 to oversee the planning, development and operation of our real estate assets, and established KT AMC Co., Ltd., an asset management company, in September 2011 as a subsidiary of KT Estate to create additional synergies with our real estate assets. We made a contribution in-kind of ￦ 1,254 billion to KT Estate in December 2012 to further strengthen KT Estate’s competitiveness and to better utilize our assets. KT

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Estate currently provides over 2,000 rental units in its 4 apartment complexes, under the “Remarkville” brand, located in Seoul and Busan, Korea. The complexes are managed by KD Living Inc., 51% of whose equity interest is owned by us and the rest by a third-party rental management company, Daiwa Living Co. Revenues from lease of rental units are recognized as revenues from our other businesses. KT Estate also engages in the business of developing and selling residential and commercial units. In 2017, KT Estate developed and sold several residential and commercial units in various metropolitan areas in Korea and such revenues are recognized as revenues from goods sold.

To respond to the trend of convergence in the telecommunications and broadcasting industries, and to seek additional synergies with our existing operations, we acquired 5,600,000 shares of redeemable convertible preferred stock with voting rights and convertible bonds that were convertible into 5,600,000 shares of common stock of KT Skylife from Dutch Savings Holdings B.V. in January 2011 for approximately ￦ 246 billion. We exercised the conversion rights on the redeemable convertible preferred stock and the convertible bonds in March 2011, and owned a 50.3% interest in KT Skylife as of December 31, 2017. KT Skylife offers satellite TV services, which may also be packaged with our IPTV services as further described below.

Revenues and Rates

The table below shows the percentage of our revenues derived from each category of services for each of the years from 2015 to 2017:

		Year Ended December 31,
		2015				2016				2017
Mobile services			32.0	%			31.9	%			30.2	%
Fixed-line services			29.8				29.9				30.2
Fixed-line telephone services :
Monthly basic charges			2.9				2.7				3.0
Monthly usage charges			4.5				3.7				3.3
Others			2.8				2.5				1.5
Sub-total			10.2				8.9				7.8
Internet services :
Broadband Internet access service			8.3				8.8				8.8
Other Internet-related services (1)			6.5				7.8				9.1
Sub-total			14.8				16.6				17.9
Data communication services (2)			4.7				4.4				4.5
Goods sold (3)			12.1				12.1				14.8
Financial services			15.3				15.4				15.4
Other businesses (4)			10.8				10.6				9.3
Operating revenues			100.0	%			100.0	%			100.0	%

(1)	Includes revenues from services provided by our data centers, Bizmeka and olleh TV.

(2)	Includes revenues from Kornet Internet connection service and satellite services.

(3)	Includes mobile handset sales and sales of residential and commercial units developed by KT Estate.

(4)	Includes revenues from satellite services, information technology and network services and security services as well as from real property leases.

Mobile Services

We derive revenues from mobile services principally from:

•

monthly fees;

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