Fingerprint experts from 42 nations challenge skills in Korea-Interpol contest

Fingerprint examiners from 42 countries tested their skills in an online competition co-hosted by the Korean National Police Agency and Interpol, the international police cooperation body, the agency said Thursday.

Long before artificial intelligence and algorithms transformed modern crime-fighting, police work relied on a far simpler, time-tested tool: human eyes searching for minute patterns etched onto skin. Last month, that fundamental forensic art took center stage as 279 latent print specialists worldwide stepped away from their automated software to go head-to-head in a high-stakes test of pure human observation.

The third annual International Fingerprint Examination Competition, held online on Sept. 17, offered no assistance from computer matching databases. For two grueling hours, contestants were faced with 20 complex fingerprint puzzles, tasked with matching obscure, incomplete latent prints against a field of 50 possible candidates.

To mirror the unforgiving reality of real-world casework — where a single misidentification can lead to a wrongful arrest — the scoring system was intentionally punitive: any incorrect choice resulted in a 50 percent point deduction for that question.

"In forensic investigations, the accuracy of a fingerprint analysis can determine a person's liberty and safeguard fundamental human rights," said Lee Mi-kyung, director general of the Scientific Investigation Advisory Office at the Korean National Police Agency. "Examiners must verify even the faintest ridge repeatedly to ensure faultless results."

When the scores were tallied, 35-year-old Kim Chae-won, a senior examiner with the Korean National Police Agency with nearly six years of experience, won first place in the domestic division. The top international honor went to Roberto Cardia, 47, a 21-year veteran warrant officer and fingerprint specialist with the Italian Carabinieri in Sardinia.

"It was a privilege to test my skills alongside global colleagues," Cardia said. "I was deeply impressed by the extraordinary level of technical rigor demonstrated throughout the competition."

Second and third places in the international category were awarded to Nilton Claudio de Oliveira and Paola Rabello Vieira, both latent print specialists with the Brazilian Federal Police in Brasilia. In the domestic bracket, inspector Kim Gyeong-yeop of the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency took second, while inspector Lee Han-sae of the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency finished third.

Launched by Korea in 2024 as the world’s first competition dedicated to latent print identification, the event joined forces with Interpol in 2025. This year's edition featured the official Interpol badge for the first time, signaling growing international alignment in forensic science.

Tsara Couvert, a senior fingerprint officer at Interpol, hailed the contest as an essential platform for cross-border knowledge sharing and benchmarking global forensic standards.

The top examiners will be formally honored Nov. 4–5 during an awards ceremony at the 12th International CSI Conference at Coex in southern Seoul.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.