South Korea is tightening its mobile phone activation process, requiring customers to undergo stricter identity verification — including facial recognition — to curb crimes such as voice phishing and the use of illegally registered "burner" phones.
According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, the three major mobile carriers and budget phone operators will begin Sunday enforcing enhanced identity checks across all channels — including in-store, authorized dealers and online — replacing the previous system that relied solely on ID card inspection.
The move is designed to prevent illegal phone registrations through identity theft, which authorities say fuel voice phishing scams and other crimes. The government had been piloting the system since late last year and has now decided to expand it to all channels.
Under the new rules, anyone signing up for a new line or porting a number must choose one of three verification methods: facial recognition, the Ministry of Interior and Safety's mobile ID app, or a resident registration extract issued the same day. Customers who are simply swapping devices on the same carrier are exempt.
The government had originally planned to make facial recognition mandatory, but the Personal Information Protection Commission and the National Human Rights Commission of Korea recommended offering a choice, citing the sensitivity of biometric data. The policy was revised to allow multiple verification options.
Officials expect the stricter checks to reduce fraud, noting that mobile phones are now widely used as the primary means of identity verification for financial transactions and a broad range of online services, making it critical to block identity theft at the point of activation.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Science and ICT sought to address privacy concerns over facial data, saying the original images are not stored and are deleted immediately after comparison. No security vulnerabilities were found during the pilot program or in a security audit by the Korea Internet and Security Agency, it added.
However, some observers have raised concerns that facial recognition accuracy could decline when ID photos are outdated, and that system errors could cause inconvenience for subscribers.
The government said it plans to continue strengthening safeguards against fraudulent phone registrations. It intends to introduce additional verification methods, link the system to a resident registration extract authentication service, revise relevant laws and tighten oversight of distribution networks implicated in illegal activations.
20ki@heraldcorp.com
