One of the Moon Jae-in government's major campaign pledges was to lower telecommunication service subscription fees, and on April 12 the Supreme Court made a final decision ordering mobile operators to disclose their cost data, supporting the public opinion in favor of lowering telecommunication fees. Although data concerning LTE, a service used by the majority of subscribers since the spread of the smartphone, was excluded, the latest decision will allow the public to access information on the grounds for calculating mobile service subscription fees, making it easier to monitor the fees and keep them in check. Mobile operators are refraining from openly opposing the Supreme Court ruling, but an air of concern about growing pressure for lower rates can be clearly felt.

On April 12, the Supreme Court sided with the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy. Earlier, the court had ordered the three mobile operators to release the data used to calculate mobile service subscription fees, the information on business costs necessary to calculate the cost of mobile services, and documents to review the adequacy of the reports and licenses of the mobile operators for the years 2005-2011. Now the three operators have to release the data. Although the data that will be immediately released concerns 2G and 3G services from 2005-2011, the mobile industry is concerned that this data may be applied to the LTE services as well. After their victory in court this day, the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy announced that they would also request the disclosure of information on costs for LTE-related services since 2011.

The greatest significance of the latest Supreme Court decision is that it opens the door for consumers to access and analyze data for mobile service costs, such as the return on cost ratio. At the heart of the latest ruling is the fact that the court put more weight on the public nature of mobile services than on corporate trade secrets. Since the information will become more transparent, social pressure to lower telecommunication costs is expected to intensify. This is expected to influence other policies to lower household telecommunication service costs, which the government is promoting, such as a universal fee, which the mobile operators fiercely oppose. They argue that it is best to leave it up to a free competition in the market.

The mobile companies said, "We respect the court's decision, but we regret that the trade secrets of private firms were not protected." One industry insider said, "Forcing mobile operators to disclose information on their costs is rarely seen throughout the world. The telecommunications market is one where dozens of operators including altteulphones (cheaper mobile services) fiercely compete for better rates and services. The rates are not calculated based on 'costs' but after a comprehensive review of the market competition, subscriber acceptance, etc."

The People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, which filed the lawsuit, held a press conference and said, "The data that the court ordered be disclosed is the data that has been at the center of allegations concerning excessive profits and price fixing," and added, "The Supreme Court's decision to disclose the information comes as no surprise." Ahn Jin-geol, head of the civic committee at the People's Solidarity said, "The ruling confirmed the public nature of mobile services, that the people's right to know comes before the trade secrets of the mobile operators, along with the fact that mobile operators should transparently disclose the information for us to see if the state’s supervision and regulation of mobile operators is effective." The People's Solidarity also argued that the Ministry of Science and ICT and the three mobile operators should immediately release the cost and present measures to support the public nature of mobile services.

This day, the science ministry released a statement and said, "We respect the court decision," and announced that it would release the information according to procedures. The ministry further stated, "We understand the latest Supreme Court decision as one reaffirming the public significance of telecommunication services and will work further to lower subscription fees at a rate that the people can feel and accept."