SK Telecom builds 5G private network smart office at Hana Financial's Cheongna headquarters

SK Telecom will build a 5G private network-based smart office at Hana Financial Group's new headquarters in Incheon's Cheongna district, allowing some 3,000 employees to access the company's internal network without fixed desks or wired connections.

SK Telecom announced Monday that it is partnering with Hana Financial Group and Samsung Electronics to build what it described as the financial sector's first 5G private network-based smart office.

The project will deploy a 5G private network across 16 floors of office and common space inside the group's Cheongna headquarters in Cheongna International City. The core goal is to replace the existing wired-centric environment with a hybrid workplace where employees can work free from the constraints of assigned seats and fixed network connections.

Hana Financial Group's Cheongna headquarters, along with 10 affiliates and roughly 3,000 employees, will have access to the private network. Those employees will begin relocating to Cheongna International City in Incheon on a rolling basis starting this month.

SK Telecom called the project a flagship example of its enterprise AI transformation, or AX, strategy. The company said the financial sector had long been locked into a wired, desktop-centric work environment due to strict security and network separation requirements — meaning that every time office seating was rearranged, new cabling work was required, and employees faced limitations when trying to continue working as they moved between spaces.

To address this, SK Telecom built the 5G private network together with Hana Financial TI, Hana Financial Group's IT subsidiary. The key is using dedicated frequencies allocated to Hana Financial Group by the Ministry of Science and ICT to provide a wireless environment isolated from external networks. A security USIM-based authentication system was also applied to ensure that only registered devices and authorized users can access the network.

Samsung Electronics will be the sole supplier of enterprise core and radio solutions for the 5G private network. The company also carried out technical collaboration with solution providers to build out the network infrastructure, and plans to use dedicated private network equipment to deliver enhanced security and a smarter working environment.

SK Telecom and Hana Financial Group also built a multilayered security framework across the entire 5G private network, covering 5G wireless-section encryption, subscriber information encryption, a firewall, a DDoS response system and access control.

The design also accounts for future network scalability. A centralized network management system will provide integrated monitoring of usage and faults. The infrastructure was also designed to connect with smart building systems, intelligent access control, AI-based CCTV, mobile employee ID cards and AI services for workplace use.

"The Hana Financial Group smart office is a prime example of AX in the financial sector, combining SK Telecom's 5G, security and operational capabilities," said Kim Gu-young, head of SK Telecom's enterprise business division. "We will continue to expand our enterprise AX business to transform the work environments and business processes of finance and other industries."