Identification via smartphone to be possible from 2022

From the first half of next year, Korean residents will be able to prove their identity without having to use physical resident card.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) announced on July 28th that from the first half of 2022, it will promote a project to develop a ‘Resident ID Card Mobile Verification Service’ that allows identification through smartphones without having a resident card.

Through smartphones, the service will provide a function to show the information included in the resident card such as name, resident registration number, address, and issuing agency, and verify the authenticity of these data, reducing the inconvenience of having to bring a physical resident card.

The MOIS explained that there will be no risk of personal information leakage as the verification process will leverage encrypted information received in real-time from the resident registration system without storing the details of the resident card on the smartphone.

The ‘Resident ID Card Mobile Verification Service’ can be used by undergoing the identity verification process at Government24 (www.gov.kr), an administrative service portal, and then receiving an identification number (via a QR code), displaying the contents of the resident card on the screen, and checking the authenticity.

This new service could be used for receiving civil service documents, issuing certificates for proving a specific qualification, checking if the user is a legal adult at convenience stores and restaurants, identification when boarding airplanes or ships, and identification when signing contracts or transactions. In other words, after being applied, it will be possible to do domestic trip, for example, without having to bring a physical resident card by leveraging the Government 24 app on smartphone. The app will enable users to safely board the plane after getting their identity checked with the content of their resident registration card. That said, if the law requires the presentation of a physical resident card, Korean residents shall identify themselves accordingly.

The MOIS plans to implement the ‘Resident ID Card Mobile Verification Service’ from the first half of next year while revising the resident registration law to provide a legal basis.

Source: https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20210728068100530?input=1195m

Our View: the announcement of the Korean government is in line with the expected release of the Mobile Drivers license that will also be a new mobile-based means of identification for Korean residents. With the release of the ‘Resident ID Card Mobile Verification Service’, the government will take another important step toward the digitalization of all Korean ID cards by 2025, which is one of its objectives. That said, It remains to be seen how it will be applied and, in particular, what kind of rights will be accessible based on this new means of identification.