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By Lee Kyung-min
Foreigners seeking to change their personal information will be required to undergo a more stringent verification process, in a strengthened measure to better prevent identity theft, according to a bill proposed by a ruling party lawmaker, Wednesday.
According to a bill put forward by Rep. Jung Sung-ho of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), a special committee will be set up to review requests filed by non-Koreans seeking to change their name, date of birth, sex or nationality, a tightened procedure compared to the status quo whereby revision is approved as long as they have a passport.
The bill also seeks to allow foreigners to change their foreign registration number, if their stolen ID was used in financial crimes.
This reflects criticism that foreigners are not included in personal information protection, unlike Koreans who can change their resident registration number when they fall victim to or even face a possibility of suffering personal damage from infringement of their rights to property, safety or bodily integrity.
The measures will subject foreigners to the same verification process as Koreans and thus facilitate effective management of the foreigner ID verification system that long remained lax, the National Assembly Special Committee on Budget and Account chairman said.
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| Rep. Jung Sung-ho of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, left, attends a meeting at the National Assembly, Feb. 28. Yonhap |
"The passage of the bill will help reduce social confusion and strengthen the protection of foreigners living in Korea," he said.
Data from the Ministry of Justice submitted to the lawmaker showed 12,000 changes in foreigners' identity information have been approved over the past three years.
Separate data showed the number of foreigners apprehended for identity theft including passport forgery rose to 5,793 in 2019, up from 5,151 in 2015.
The proposed measure will enhance the screening process to better identify those who abuse the lax system for tax evasion and illegal acquisition of assets.
Data released by Gyeonggi Provincial Government in November 2020 showed 83 residents evaded a combined 1.4 billion won ($1.2 million) in taxes between March and October that year.
They were among 1,415 people who were suspected of having renounced their Korean citizenship in order to enter Korea as foreigners to run a business or buy cars and real estate here.
The provincial government said that some of them were willing to forfeit their nationality knowing that foreigners are not subject to the same lending rules or property tax rates for owning multiple homes as Korean nationals are.
The provincial government seized properties bought and held by 17 former Korean citizens. Investigations are ongoing into the remaining 66 to seize their accounts receivables and apply for court orders to garnish their wages.
