The Cabinet Tuesday approved a bill to require all foreigners entering South Korea to be fingerprinted and photographed from 2012, Yonhap News Agency said.

Under the revised immigration law, all foreigners over the age of 17, excluding diplomats and those traveling on official duties, must have their fingerprints scanned and be photographed during entry procedures.

The revision will be submitted to the National Assembly and is expected to take effect during the second half of 2012.

The new requirement has raised concerns about possible human rights violations but officials said it is primarily intended to regulate illegal entry by foreigners for safety reasons. The United States and Japan have already adopted similar fingerprinting policies.

"We think the new policy does not necessarily discriminate against foreigners. Koreans are also required to provide their fingerprints and personal information when they apply for resident registration cards at the age of 17," Park Cho-hyon, an official at the Justice Ministry, was quoted as saying.

The revision will also ease regulations on filing change of workplace for foreign professionals to within 15 days of the change.

Foreign workers are currently required to obtain permission from the government prior to changing jobs.

The number of foreign workers in South Korea categorized as professionals or skilled workers was tallied at about 40,000 as of September out of 540,000 registered workers from abroad, according to the Justice Ministry.