Is Seoul More Expensive Than Tokyo? KTOA Says, "Statistical Error Favoring Japan"

【Financial News, Tokyo—Correspondent Hye-jin Seo】A survey by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications found that Seoul's monthly 4G charge for 20GB of data is 2.3 times higher than Tokyo's. Seoul was the most expensive among the six major cities surveyed worldwide. South Korea's telecommunications industry pushed back, saying there were problems with the plans selected and the comparison criteria.
According to the "2025 Survey of Domestic and International Price Differences in Telecommunications Services," released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on June 30, the monthly charge under the 20GB 4G model was highest for SK Telecom in Seoul at 6,916 yen. Verizon in New York charged 6,684 yen, NTT Docomo in Tokyo 2,974 yen, and Orange in Paris 2,495 yen. Seoul's rate was 2.3 times Tokyo's and 2.8 times Paris's.
Seoul was also the most expensive of the six cities under the 50GB-per-month model, at 6,916 yen. Under the unlimited-data model, however, Seoul's rate of 8,754 yen was lower than Düsseldorf's 11,450 yen and Tokyo's 9,332 yen. For the 5G 20GB-per-month model, Seoul ranked second highest after New York at 4,902 yen. Its 50GB rate was 5,603 yen, ranking behind Düsseldorf and New York.
The survey compared the amount a new subscriber would pay under plans available in December last year, based on 44 minutes of monthly voice calls, 60 text messages, and specified amounts of data usage. It was not a tally of average telecommunications spending by actual users.
The Korea Telecommunications Operators Association (KTOA) issued press materials on the 27th, arguing that the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications applied an expensive old 4G plan to South Korea while failing to fully reflect additional costs for voice calls and text messages in its Japanese pricing.
According to KTOA, subscribers in South Korea have been able to switch between 4G and 5G plans since 2023. However, the ministry applied a 6,916-yen LTE plan to its 4G 20GB comparison.
KTOA argued that the comparison should add unlimited voice-call options and text-message charges to the Japanese plans and exclude the online-only plan "ahamo." Based on these criteria, its recalculated monthly 4G 20GB rates were 5,310 yen for Seoul and 10,076 yen for Tokyo. Ranked from least to most expensive, Seoul placed fourth among the six cities, while Tokyo placed sixth.
However, KTOA arrived at these figures by adjusting the plans and the conditions for voice and text usage, so its calculation uses different criteria from the figures released by the ministry. The plans in the 4,200-yen range that KTOA presented as an alternative were launched after December 2025, the reference point for the ministry's survey, and therefore cannot be applied directly to the comparison at that time.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications also explained, "Because fee and discount structures differ by country, the survey results should be interpreted as one of several comparative indicators."
[email protected] Hye-jin Seo Reporter