​Galaxy S5 hits stores early in Korea, as carriers try to dodge sales suspension

South Korea's major carriers have pulled their Galaxy S5 launch date forward to, well, today, despite Samsung's efforts to keep the native networks in line with the global launch date on April 11. According to a statement received by Bloomberg, Samsung is 'very puzzled.' 'SK strongly asked form an earlier release of the product by we delivered our stance that the global release date of April 11 remains unchanged.' In South Korea, recent illegal discounts from carriers led to the government regulator slapping a 45-day ban on new customer sign-ups. Carriers apparently already have the GS5 in stock for both marketing activities and to cover their pre-orders on launch day.SK Telecom said that it had decided to offer the GS5 'for a wider consumer choice of handsets before our suspension begins on April 5.' On their network, the phone is priced at $808 and is available online and in-store starting today.