Man on alternative military service leaked passport info

By Bae Ji-sook

Police on Monday apprehended a man on a civic detail as his military service at a district office in Seoul for leaking scores of people’s passport numbers.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, 31-year-old Ohm had handed over copies of the identification pages of 121 people’s to a 47-year-old Park in exchange for 350,000 won while he was undertaking the alternative military service at the office for the past several months.

He is also suspected of breaking into the local government’s computer database to find the telephone number of Park’s ex-girlfriend.

Investigators are assuming that Park used the information to forge passports and bank accounts in China. “Since Korea signed a visa-waiver program with 90 countries in the world, Korean passports are dealt at high prices,” a police officer said.

Police said they have requested a joint investigation with their Chinese counterparts.