By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Foreigners suspected of attempting to enter the country on false documents, who were previously deported after being convicted of crimes here, will have to undergo fingerprint checks at international airports and harbors from as early as August, the Immigration Service said Sunday.
The measure is to tighten security ahead of the G-20 summit in November in Seoul.
To install the necessary equipment, the authorities have requested a budget of 2.5 billion won ($2.2 million) from the Ministry of Justice.
"This is a move we have come up with following a number of foreigners using fake passports or fabricated information trying to gain entry into the country," said Ahn Kyu-seok, a spokesman for the Immigration Service. "We will set up the system by August at the latest."
Two Pakistani men, who are suspected of being members of the Taliban, were arrested last month. Police said they had passed through immigration using fake passports.
Also three Iranians were recently arrested after entering Korea using cloned passports of people with similar looks.
These loopholes in immigration checks have put greater pressure on the authorities to enhance immigration security.
"We have tens of thousands of fingerprints of foreign criminals," the spokesman said.
Suspicious foreigners will undergo questioning and be required to provide their fingerprints to be compared with the database, he said.
"Those confirmed to have been convicted of crimes in Korea in the past will either be denied entry or taken in for questioning."
Ahn said this was a makeshift measure to tighten immigration inspections with the G-20 summit just eight months away.
A bill requiring all foreign nationals aged 17 or over visiting Korea to have their fingerprints registered is pending at the National Assembly.
If passed, all visitors, excluding diplomats and those traveling on official duty, must have their fingerprints scanned and be photographed upon entry.
But the ministry does not expect the bill to be endorsed by the time of the G-20 gathering.
"With the bill yet unapproved, we have no legal ground to require all foreign visitors to provide us with their fingerprints," Ahn said. "But forcing those convicted of crimes here to provide their fingerprints is an act based on existing immigration regulations."
More than 2,000 foreigners, who have been deported or denied entry, have attempted to come back to Korea with forged passports or under different names, according to the Ministry of Justice.
"Collecting biometric information will not only deter crimes committed by foreigners but also reduce the number of people coming here with fraudulent documents," the immigration official said. "Unlike names and dates of birth, which can be changed, biometric data is unique and almost impossible to forge."
Despite fierce oppositions from human rights advocates, the immigration checks based on biometric information is an international trend.
Japan adopted the new immigrant management system in November 2007, which is similar to the one introduced in the United States after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.
The Korean government is in talks with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to share databases on terrorists, criminals and illegal immigrants.