Residents of South Korea can now create, store and use a digital version of their national identity card on their mobile device using the Pass verification app that they can then use to prove their age when purchasing age-restricted goods and to verify their identity when signing contracts and other legal documents.

SK Telecom, KT and LG U+ — the three Korea-based mobile network operators that launched the app in 2018 and enabled users to upload a mobile driving licence to it in 2020 — have extended Pass to incorporate support for digital national IDs and offer the country’s “first mobile resident registration card verification service by a private company”.

Once created in Pass, a user’s digital ID card “displays a QR code along with the name, date of birth and address registered on their resident registration card” and allows them to add any additional information recorded on the card as necessary, SK Telecom says.

“For example, if you need to verify your age at a convenience store, run the Resident ID Card Mobile Verification Service in the Pass app and scan the QR code on the screen with the convenience store point-of-sale reader to verify the purchaser’s age on the POS screen.”

“In addition, the three telecommunications companies have restricted the use of the Resident ID Card Mobile Verification Service to only one smartphone opened under the user’s name to prevent illegal use such as identity theft and strengthened security by blocking screen capture,” SK Telecom adds.

South Korea’s Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Korean National Police Agency began trialling a mobile driving licence in February and the country’s Digital Government Agency revealed in October that it is planning to launch a blockchain-enabled digital ID for Korean residents.

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