3 telcos to launch own mobile ID verification service this week

SEOUL, Nov. 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's three mobile carriers said Wednesday that they will launch their own ID verification service enabling users to conveniently confirm their identities through smartphones without a plastic card.

The country's three mobile carriers -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- said the resident registration mobile verification service will be available through their mobile app PASS, starting Thursday.

PASS is an identity authentication app provided by the three with 36 million members.

Until now, the government's mobile registration app has been the only platform offering the service.

The companies said people can conveniently use the service after simple registration with the app, but users can only use one smartphone registered under their own names due to security issues.

The digital ID service is applied to convenience store chains, like CU and GS25, to verify age for the purchase of age-limited goods such as alcohol and cigarettes.

The mobile ID is also valid at airports in the case of buying airplane tickets and boarding checks and at public offices for submitting civil affairs documents. It can be used for ID confirmation in private contracts or transactions.

The mobile carriers have participated in the country's e-government plan aimed at raising the digital conversion rate of major public services.

In 2020, they launched a digital driver's license service on PASS and it has some 4.7 million users.

brk@yna.co.kr
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