Special inspection ahead of Korea's opening match

Repair crews on standby for immediate deployment

KT Corp employees conduct a preemptive inspection of telecommunications facilities near Gwanghwamun Square on Monday ahead of South Korea's opening World Cup match. [KT Corp]
KT Corp employees conduct a preemptive inspection of telecommunications facilities near Gwanghwamun Square on Monday ahead of South Korea's opening World Cup match. [KT Corp]

KT Corp said Tuesday it has put in place a network quality inspection and response system at Gwanghwamun Square and other key venues ahead of South Korea's opening World Cup match on June 12.

The company conducted preemptive network quality checks and prepared traffic management plans focused on areas expected to draw large crowds — including Gwanghwamun Square, Seoul City Hall Plaza and the Yeongdong-daero corridor in Gangnam.

KT Corp said it has applied W-SDN (Wireless-Software Defined Network) technology to its response framework. W-SDN is an intelligent network control system that analyzes real-time traffic from a central hub and automatically identifies and manages base stations at risk of overload.

The company said the system can instantly reallocate network resources in response to shifts in crowd density and service usage, enabling stable connectivity even at large-scale events.

To handle sudden traffic surges on the ground, KT Corp will operate a tiered response system. It will pre-position additional mobile base stations and run 24-hour special monitoring at its network control center in Gwacheon before, during and after each match. Should any abnormal situation arise, repair crews will be deployed immediately.

KT Corp previously used W-SDN to manage its network during a large-scale performance at Gwanghwamun and major sporting events in March, delivering stable service quality. The company plans to further expand AI-based analysis and control capabilities to continuously improve the network experience for customers.

"We plan to provide seamless telecommunications service at Gwanghwamun Square, where the hopes of the entire nation will converge, through our W-SDN technology," said Jeong Seon-il, senior vice president of KT Corp's Network Operations Innovation Division. "We will keep advancing our intelligent automated control technology to continuously improve the network quality customers experience, even in high-traffic environments."

Meanwhile, KT Corp will co-host public viewing events at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul with the Korea Football Association during the World Cup. The events are scheduled for three dates — June 12, June 19 and June 25 — in line with the national team's match schedule. In partnership with JTBC, the official World Cup broadcaster, matches will be shown live on two large media walls installed at KT Gwanghwamun Building West.


woo@heraldcorp.com