New phone sign-ups face tougher ID checks

South Koreans buying a new mobile phone with a new subscription or switching carriers will now face tougher identity checks, as authorities move to curb fraudulent activations linked to identity theft and financial crimes.

Major mobile carriers and mobile virtual network operators began implementing the new requirements Monday. Customers opening a new line or transferring their number must verify their identity using one of three methods: facial recognition, a mobile ID issued by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety or a resident registration certificate issued the same day.

The rules do not apply to customers simply upgrading their handset while keeping the same carrier and phone number.

The tougher checks come amid growing concerns over so-called burner phones and their use in voice phishing and other financial crimes. Police estimate that about 20,000 illegal mobile phones were detected last year, while losses from voice phishing scams reached 1.3 trillion won ($848 million).

With smartphones now widely used for banking, payments and online identity verification, authorities say conventional ID checks are no longer sufficient as document forgery techniques become increasingly sophisticated.

The government expects stricter screening at the sign-up stage to make it harder for criminals to use stolen identities to open mobile lines that can later be exploited for scams, illegal transactions and other forms of abuse.

Industry officials, however, warn the new procedures could slow customer service and create confusion at retail stores. During a pilot program that ran from December through June, adoption of the new verification methods remained limited, while more complicated procedures often led to longer wait times and heavier workloads for store staff.

Technical reliability has also emerged as a concern. Facial recognition reportedly produced errors during the trial depending on lighting conditions and camera angles. The alternative options may also prove inconvenient for some users, as government mobile IDs must be issued in advance, while customers using resident registration certificates must obtain the document separately before signing up.

Privacy concerns may also weigh on public acceptance. Although facial recognition is only one of the available options, the use of biometric data could make some consumers uneasy amid heightened concerns over data protection. The Ministry of Science and ICT said facial data is deleted immediately after verification and that original images are not stored.

The government plans to introduce additional verification methods and pursue related legal revisions later this year, while tightening oversight of retailers involved in fraudulent subscriptions.

For foreign nationals, however, the new measures will bring little immediate change, as alien registration cards are not yet among the identity documents supported by the facial recognition verification system.

To address the gap, the government plans to complete the necessary digital integration work to allow alien registration cards to be used for facial recognition-based verification as early as the second half of this year. Passport-based facial verification for foreign nationals is expected to become available next year.

Until those systems are in place, foreign nationals will be limited to one mobile phone line per person and required to provide an explanation when opening additional lines, as part of broader efforts to curb fraudulent subscriptions.