By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff reporter
South Korean nationals who have established legal residence overseas will be allowed to subscribe to Korean Internet services by using their passports for identity verification, according to local Internet authorities Wednesday.
Most Korean Web sites require users to submit their names and resident registration numbers, a 13-digit code that indicates their date of birth, sex and registration site, basically Korea's equivalent to social security numbers.
However, the law mandates resident registration numbers to be cancelled for those who obtain permanent residency in foreign countries, making it complicated for them to subscribe to Korean Web sites and other online services based on Korean servers.
Some sites did allow Koreans living abroad to fax over their personal identification cards or other documents to gain approval as members, but this was a frustrating process that normally took about a week.
The Korea Communications Commission (KCC), the country's broadcasting and telecommunications regulator, said it's using the Web sites of two local newspapers to test a system that enables Korean expatriates to subscribe by inputting their names and passport numbers.
This option will be expanded to Web portals, online shopping and other media outlet sites, KCC officials said, with the changes expected to hit full-gear sometime during the latter half of the year.
The agency is collaborating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Ministry of Public Administration and Security to provide passport-related information of the Koreans overseas at the government's civil service Web site (pr.share.go.kr).
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, there were about 1.22 million Korean nationals who have obtained permanent residency in foreign countries at the end of last year, with nearly half of them gaining legal status in Japan or North America.
"This will greatly improve the user environment and also allow Korean Internet companies to garner more Web traffic. The communication between Koreans living here and those living elsewhere will be greatly improved as well," a KCC official said.
There are growing complaints among Internet users that subscribing to Korean Web sites has become an annoying experience, claiming that they are asked to submit an excessive amount of private information.
This is certainly frustrating when the country doesn't appear to have a computer security defense, the critics say, with a slew of data theft cases in recent years exposing the defenses of Internet companies and other businesses regarding customer information.
Despite growing concerns over the excessive amount of personal information collected by online services providers, the government has been moving to squeeze more data out of computer users as it looks to impose more rules.
Since last year, the government has been requiring Internet users to register with verifiable real names in order to post comments on Web sites with more than 100,000 daily users, which it claimed as inevitable to curb cyber bullying and libelous online claims.
And the country's law on encrypted online communications mandates Internet companies to keep the resident registration numbers of users to provide online shopping and other financial transaction services.
The KCC officials said that the passport numbers will be less of a security threat than resident registration numbers, as they don't indicate sex or the registration site. Korean expatriates who use their passports to sign up to Web sites will be asked to give their date of birth, to prevent under-aged users from accessing mature content.